A New Perspective
by black angel's wing
Summary: This is the journey of Autumn the Fox, and her place in the anime tv show, Sonic X. Follow her as she takes on Dr. Eggman, makes new friends, and overcomes her fears. Sonic X, through a new perspective.
1. Chapter 1

Well hi there! *waves* uhh, this is my first ever story! Yay! Welcome to 'A New Perspective.' any criticism you my have is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. So on to the story!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC :(**

* * *

Grey eyes watched from their place in a tree as the full moon rose above a tranquil lake. Sensitive ears picked up on soft noises. Sirens, coming from a tower not far off. A tail quivered in excitement. Sharp teeth were shown as the lips around them were pulled back in a smile. Those same lips then moved again, this time forming words.

"It would seem that I have found you, dear Professor Robotnik."

Moments later, an auburn fox, a female, could be seen sprinting into the woods in the direction of the tower.

* * *

The fox leapt over a fallen log as she neared Professor Robotnik's base. Feet clad in black knee high boots carried her past the smoking remains of countless broken robots. A quick frown passed her features. 'I wonder who could have done this?' She continued to walk forward. _'Maybe they can help me. Whoever they are.'_

Her thoughts were then interrupted by a particularly loud explosion. Not wanting to miss the fight that was sure to be taking place, the auburn fox vaulted over the chain link fence that surrounded the base. Her expression became one of awe as she witnessed a streak of blue destroy four huge drones within the span of three seconds.

"Woah."

Her eyes widened further as hundreds of missiles were launched at the blue figure. A figure that should have been a streak as it ran. A figure that was now just standing there.

Now curious eyes took in the briDght blue male hedgehog, who, at the moment, had his eyes closed and head shaking in pity at the oncoming objects. He was wearing red and white running shoes on his feet, and white gloves much like her own on his hands. His three quills were spiked back behind head, and even facing danger, his now open emerald eyes flashed with excitement. He rubbed his nose before taking off again, succeeding in dodging all of the missiles that had been heading in his direction. Using a robot, one shorter than the ones he had taken out just minutes before, he launched himself at the tower.

_'I've heard rumors of a blue hedgehog who could run at the speed of sound. Sonic, I think that was his name. Could this be him?'_ The fox's mind whirled. _'Maybe he can help me. I've heard that he opposes Professor Robotnik as well, though i have hearad that he goes by Dr. Eggman now.'_

She shook her head to clear it. Spirals located on the backs of her own white gloves began to light up, and slowly encased her hands in an eerie red glow. The fox bared her teeth into an excited smile. Two words could be heard between the explosions coming from the battlefield behind her.

"My turn."

A huge rock coated in the same misty glow as her hands broke loose from ground and flew towards her. It stopped in midair a few feet from the fox and hovered there as she jumped onto its flat top. The rock soared onto the air, carrying its master on top. Giggles escaped her lips as it rose higher and higher.

The rock and it's rider came to a stop when she flicked a glowing hand. Raising the same hand, sharp shards of earth sprang loose from below her, an slowly floated towards her waiting form. The fox on the rock was soon surrounded by deadly projectiles.

New mechanical warriors from Dr. Eggman's robot army came forth to replace their fallen comrades. Said army was quick to aim and fire their lasers at their new target. An auburn fox.

She appeared unimpressed as she maneuvered her rock forward, her new weapons slowly circling her body. Her eyes drifted shut. As the intended target raised both of her arms above her head, an enormous wall of earth was called into play. It was situated in-between the girl and her robot attackers, easily blocking the majority of their shots.

She hissed as pain exploded from her raised left arm. A stray shot had managed to graze her body, and she could smell the blood as it spilled onto her white tee-shirt. _'No pain, no gain.'_ she chanted in her head.

She clenched her fists tight, and her brow was furrowed in a combination of concentration and pain. Glowing red eyes shot suddenly open, and hands of the same color were brought crashing down. The rock wall crumbled. Large chunks of earth fell from the sky, effectively crushing most of her adversaries. Those that weren't crushed were soon pelted with the projectiles that had been circling the fox.

As her eyes resumed their natural grey color, she smirked at the destruction she had caused. _'Im one step closer, one step at a time.'_ she thought. _'He_ will _pay.'_

A sudden shout originating from her right brought her from her morbid thoughts. It had been the blue hedgehog. Apparently he had triggered one of Dr. Eggman's spring mechanisms, and he had been launched into the air because of it.

Wishing to save her could-be ally, her rock shot to the right. She caught him with relative ease, though it did little to help the pain still present in her arm. Ignoring the hurt, she flew her rock out of harms way and set down the hedgehog.

"Gee, thanks!" he said with a grin after he regained his composure. The fox only smiled in return. He continued talking.

"Say, are you new here? I haven't seen you around. What are you doing here? I'm Sonic by the way. Sonic the Hedgehog!"

'So I was right, and this talkative hedgehog is Sonic.' she mused.

Choosing not to answer his questions, she replied solely with her name.

"Autumn, huh? That's a cool name." he paused, his green eyes scanning her and coming to a stop on her injured arm. She quickly brushed her hand across the wound, feeling the dry blood. She reassured him with a nod, and he continued.

"It was nice to meet you, and thanks for the save."

Autumn smiled softly in reply and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "I'm glad I could help."

The yelling of Sonic's name shocked the two back into reality. A blue propeller plane flew by, drawing the fire from the robots that had just discovered their hiding spot. A yellow fox with twin tails was piloting with a determined look on his face, while the pink hedgehog that sat in the back had her eyes shut tightly.

One of the shots hit the left wing, causing critical damage to the small plane. Before it left, a golden ring was shot from a slot in the front of the plane.

The ring flew straight into Sonic's outstretched hand.

"Thanks Tails! Thanks Amy!" he shouted excitedly in response to the gift. "Hey Autumn, you ready to go?" She nodded. "Then let's get to it!"

Sonic closed his fist tightly around the ring. A glow began to seep through his fingers, and he started to spin. Without warning, he shot off faster than he ha been going before, and much to Autumn's shock, became nearly indestructible. The blue blur destroyed the remaining robots and broke through the thick metal walls of Dr. Eggman's not-so-secret base.

A small smile graced her lips as she summoned more rock weapons. Her feet then carried her through the hole in the side of the tower. Following Sonic's path was easy. All she had to do was follow the path of destruction. Autumn huffed angrily as she walked. _'It figures that I'd be let in at the bottom of the tower, and now Dr. Eggman will be all the way at the top.'_

Surprisingly enough, she came across nothing but the broken parts of defeated robots. After what seems like hours to Autumn, she finally made it to the room where she knew Dr. Eggman was located.

She was about to enter through the he in the wall hen she heard a new voice.

"You'll never stop me now, Sonic!" it boasted.

Autumn's eyes became slits as she recognized the speaker's voice. "Dr. Eggman." she whispered, her voice laced with hatred.

The doctor continued with a threat.

"All I have to do is to push this little button."

"Yeah, if you can push it before I grab it." Sonic replied.

There was a brief pause, during which Autumn's tail twitched anxiously. She had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. Her fear was brought to life as Dr. Eggman issued a challenge.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

There was something about the evil man's tone as he spoke that made her believe that the tables might soon turn in his favor.

Shots were fired. Above the din, she could hear the doctor shout at whatever robot who was attacking Sonic, "Don't let him get away! Stop him, no matter what." He stopped short. "No, no! Hold your fire! Aghh!"

Afraid of what had transpired while she was behind the door, Autumn chose that moment to crash into the room, her rock shards at the ready.

The room she had entered was quite large. The remains of a robot laid by the far wall, most likely because of Sonic. She scanned the room for the blue hero. He was standing protectively in front of a clear plastic bubble that held a quivering orange rabbit and a small blue chao. Their eyes were fille with a mixture of confusion, hope and fear. It dawned on the auburn fox that they had no idea if she were a friend or foe. She smiled at them reassuringly, and the fear in their hearts melted into complete faith that they would be set free.

Standing in the center by some sort of machine was Dr. Eggman. A trigger was held tightly in his grasp. She nearly laughed in spite of herself. He lived up to his name to say the least. His upper half was much smaller than his large waist, and Autumn was surprised that he had clothes that fit him. His wardrobe consisted of a red coat with two coattails that nearly reached the floor, yellow cuffs at his wrists, and black pants tucked into large black boots. He wore grey goggles on his forehed, and though his eyes were hidden by blue glasses, Autumn noticed that the shined strangely as he noticed her presence.

She felt his scrutinizing gaze pass over her figure looking for a possible weakness. Autumn strelied herself to ensure him that there were none. Still under his gaze, she slowly made her way to where Sonic stood, her rock weapons at the ready in case of an attack. There were none, and she adopted the same stance as her new ally. Sonic shot her a grateful look before turning back to Dr. Eggman.

Said doctor smiled coldly before announcing,"Here we go!" and pushing the button located on the top of the device in his hand.

Autumn growled softly, and was about to heave her projectiles at Dr. Eggman when words were said that made her blood run cold.

They came from Dr. Eggman. "Ahh! No, what have you done?" His head was in his hands as he looked at a hole in the glass sheild of the machine. a quickly expanding ball of pure light was coming through the gap.

Fearfully, Autumn turned to face Sonic. "What is that? Tell me we can stop it!" she almost begged.

"I... I think it's Chaos Control." he relied with a shocked expression of his normally confident features. He glanced at her hopeful face, but shook his head sadly. "It can't be stopped." he said softly.

By this point, they were completely engulfed in brightness, and Autumn felt a sensation a if she were falling from an impossibly high tree. She knew in her mind that she was floating in a vast amount of light, but her eyes refused to see color. In her final seconds of consciousness, she sent a wish to her lucky star. _'Please. Keep them safe.'_

* * *

"I didn't mean to hit it! It fell out of the sky!"

"Woah, what is that thing?"

"I don't know man, but it looks like a fox."

"No way dude, it's too big to be a fox. Foxes are a heck of a lot smaller than this thing."

"True man, true. Is it dead? Poke it, see if it's dead."

Autumn awoke to a sharp pain emenating from her side. Gasping as she sat up, she came face to face with two men in dark blue uniforms with matching hats. The larger of the two had a fearful look on his round face, and the skinnier man held a long stick. Thy had their backs pressed against a black and white car that had the word 'Police' written along the side.

The odd threesome were on the side of a road, not too far away from the bright lights of a city. _'Where am I?_' Autumn wondered. _'In all of my travels around the world, I don't recall ever hearing of a placliquor like this._'

Static exploded from the inside of the car, causing Autumn to cover her sensitive ears. She cocked thEm forward as she heard a voice. This one had a strange accent.

"Attention all units, attention all units! A blue hedgehog is headed north on Central Street. Set up a roadblock just before the 'on' ramp to 101!"

Luck seemed to be with the fox that day, for her keen eyes could make out a familiar blue blur as it made it's way toward the car. He slowed down to a walk as his eyes fell on Autumn. Wordlessly, Sonic grabbed her hand and ran at a pace she could keep up with. Though they ran slower than what Sonic was used to, the ran quickly enough that the Police car was soon just a memory in Autumn's tired mind.

Sonic came to a stop when the roadblock set up by the policemen came in to view. Sonic flashed his companion a grin as he scooped her up in his arms, holding her bridal style.

"Hang on tight Autumn, 'cause things are gonna get real interesting, real fast." said the hedgehog, a grin evident in his voice.

The duo was suddenly rocketing towards the men and cars that made up the blockade. The wind created by the speed at which they were moving made the fox wrap her arms around Sonic's neck and hide her face in his neck. She could feel him laughing at her actions, so she retaliated with a smack to the back of his head.

There were a few moments early in the run where Autumn felt weightless, but the feeling was quick to end. The time she spent in Sonic's arms was short, as they had reached whatever destination he had had in mind, and he set her down soflty.

Autumn looked around at her new surroundings. They were still on the road, but there was nobody around this time. The fox moved to the railing that was present along the side of the road, and put her hands on top of it. She closed her eyes and listened to the small symphony of sounds. crickets chrrped in the darkness, the occasional frog adding its baritone voice to the mix. An owl's solemn hooting resurfaced an ild memory. One from her past.

Her eyes shot open and flew heavenward. 'Please still be there,' she begged silently I the night. 'Please.'

After a good minute of fruitless searching, Autumn finally came across what she was looking for. A star shined brightly in the sky I between it's place between two others. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her lucky star, Siri, was still visible in this world's sky. .

"The stars are the same here," she mused.

"So is the moon," was Sonic's reply.

"We've traveled throught space. Did we travel through time as well?"

"I hope the others made it too, and that they're alright. We have to find out if they made it!"

"We'll find them, Sonic. Have faith," she reassured him. "It'll be alright." Sonic smiled gratefully in reply.

The small moment between the two was interrupted as the sound of fast moving cars could be heard over the music of the night. Moving to join to Sonic in the middle of the road, Autumn tensed four whote racecars, led by a red one, pulled into view, their lights on the top flashing red.

The driver of the red vehicle climbed out leisurely and pulled off his helmet. He had short red hair and piercing green eyes, one shade lighter than Sonic's own emerald ones. He wore a dominantly red jumpsuit, though there were patches of white along the sleeves and the stomach.

"Hi there," he called casually, waving a hand at them. "You're hard to keep up with. You and your little friend."

Sonic raised an eyebrow and turned to walk down the road.

"Hey hold on," the man call out.

Sonic paused and turned his head back to the speaker. He was now leaning up against his race car.

"We don't get such fast company very often. In fact, I'm glad that you guys showed up. This place is way too peaceful."

"Isn't peace a good thing?" Autumn breathed to Sonic. He flashed her a grin in rely.

"Over the last twelve months I've only had to make one arrest. Some joker got it into his head that he was a hotshot driver. He had his own Formula One car and everything. I guess he thought he'd give me a run for my money. But it was all over in a minute," the red haired man boasted. "Took me longer than that just to suit up."

Sonic chuckled softly in response, and the man adopted an excited smile as he said, "He never even had a chance."

'Does this guy ever stop talking?' Autumn thought as the man continued on with his story.

"See, we're the high-speed pursuit unit. The S-Team. And I'm the leader. They call me 'The Highway Star.' So even if you think that you're the fastest thing around..." the man paused, most likely for dramatic effect, before he continued with a wolfish grin.

"Think again."

With a roar, the previously forgotten race cars sprang forward. Yelping in surprise, Sonic gathered his friend in his arms an took off down the road, the white cars not far behind.

They ran fast, speeding north on an empty Highway 101.

"The S-Team eh? The 'S' must stand for slow motion!" Sonic laughed.

"Just shut up and run, Sonic." said a somewhat annoyed fox. He chuckled at her remark, but as she asked.

Autumn turned to face their pursuers. As Sonic accelerated, so did they. A car on their left shot past them andscut the duo off, two more closing in on either side. The last white race car pulled up behind them, boxing them in.

"Well, well, well, it's starting to look like the rush hour!" Sonic spoke to Autumn. Taking on his joking tone, she made her own jibe.

"Oh, no! How will we ever escape?"

Sonic chuckled as he jumped over the car on their right side, and Autumn surprised the driver by knocking on the glass. Laughing at the man's bewildered look, the two moved to stand on the roof of the poor man's car.

He sputtered as he spoke. "Hey, you. This is dangerous. It's irresponsible! What happened if kids start trying this?"

Sonic thought for a moment before he looked at some imaginary camera of to his left. "Kids, don't use Formula One race cars to chase hedgehogs." he glanced over at Autumn, who was sitting beside him, dusting off her auburn fur. He noticed that her arm was completely healed, and assumed that Chaos Control was to thank for it. He amended his previous statement. "Or foxes."

He then motioned for her to climb on his back. "Han on tight!" he said to her as he jumped back onto the road, racing on faster than before.

The cars soon followed suit, and Autumn guessed that they were going at a speed close to three hundred miles per hour. Sonic soon spun around an started running backwards to taunt the men chasing after them.

After about a minute of this, the four cars merged off to the sides, leaving space for the red race car to pull through.

With a sudden burst of speed, the car shot forward, forcing Sonic to either jump to the side or become roadkill. Fortunately for Autumn, he chose the former. Sonic turned back around, facing forward once more. From her place on his back, the fox coul. Make out his narrowed eye as he accepted the unspoken challenge.

Clinging tighter to his neck, she shut her grey eyes tightly before leaning forward to whisper into Sonic's ear.

"Go get him."

Rather than hearing his response, Autumn felt his speed increase durastically. The wind that he created made her fur sway like a palm tree in a hurricane.

Her eyes still shut, she heard the squealing of tires. The 'Highway Star' had come to a stop. They had won, yet Sonic continued to sprint forward.

Autumn was about to ask why they hadn't yet stopped, when she a familiar sense of weightlessnessoctane over her. Finally opening her eyes, she realized that thy were flying through the air. With a small giggle, she glanced back in the direction they had come.

With her jeen eyes, she could just make out a figure standing by the side of the road. The racer stood with his helmet in his hands, his red hair being whipped around by the wind, watching them fly.

With a sigh, Autumn decided to take a peek at the sight below them. Nearly gasping, she gawked at the beauty of the lights. Millions of them were visible from the city, lighting up the night. They twinkled like the stars above, and shined almost just as brightly.

As they began their descent into the city lights, Autum detached herself from Sonic. She closed her tired eyes, trusting that her companion would wake her when the neared the ground.

Her wake up call came sooner than she had expected. Not a minute later, her eyes flew open at a sudden gasp from the hedgehog that floated next to her.

"A... A pool?" Sonic's voice trembled nervously as he spoke. "Uh, oh."

Autumn tried to summon her powers to help ease them to the ground, but was hit by one of Sonic's flailing limbs before she could do so. She spiraled to the ground in a different direction but Sonic stayed on his course for the pool.

Luckily for her, she was able to bring a chunk of earth to her own aid. Instead of impacting the ground with a considerable amount of force, she merely hopped off her rock a few iground from it.

'_Perfect. Now_ _all I have to do is find Sonic, and we can figure out how to get home.'_ thought an excited auburn fox.

_SPLASH._

_'I think I might go look in that direction._' Autumn did just that,and quickly came across a small boya patting Sonic on the back as he coughed. They were both drenched, so she made the assumption that the boy had plulled Sonic from the water. She could also see their lips moving, but was too far away to her the words.

Her exhausted feet carried her over to where they were talking, and she stopped a few feet away from where the little boy sat.

"My name's Christopher. Do you have a name?"

Sonic smiled. "Yeah I have a name. My name is Sonic the Hedgehog." He glanced at Autumn and pointed to her. "And this is my friend-"

She cut him off with a sharp look, and Sonic chuckled nervously.

"I can introduce myself," she muttered. Autumn then smiled warmly at Christopher. "I'm Autumn."

* * *

Well there you have it folks, chapter one is now complete! Tell me what you think! Like I said, this is my first story, so any criticism is appreciated. I'll try to have the next chapter up some time within the next two weeks, maybe sooner. Until next time! *blows kisses*


	2. Chapter 2

Ok guys, so heres the next chapter!

Thank you to SpecialAverageGirl18 for reviewing and adding this to your favorites, and NightWindAlchemist for adding this to your favorites!

Onward!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic X**

* * *

****

They had spent the remainder of the night on the roof of Chris's family's mansion, much to the joy of Autumn. To tell the truth, she was more comfortable with being out in the open than being inside a house. It comes with being born and raised in a forest.

As the sun warmed her fur, she lazily uncurled from the ball he had fallen asleep in. The past night had been run on her adrenaline, but her body now begged for more rest. She was physically aware of Sonic sitting next to her, and she could hear Chris talking on the phone from where he stood on the balcony below them.

"Well, there's something I did that I'm kinda not supposed to," he admitted sheepishly.

The person on the other end, "Chris's mom," Sonic told her when she asked, was talking fast, asking if he was alright, then for an explanation of what had transpired.

"Yeah mom, I'm totally fine. But remember how you said I'm not supposed to go in the pool at night? And how I'm supposed to stay away from the grown-up pool?"

The chatter from the phone increased in volume. Autumn smirked as her ears picked up on the words being said.

"Did you go swimming in the adult pool at night? By yourself?" she shrieked incredulously.

"Well, not exactly," said Chris nervously. "You see, there was this cat int he pool, and I got it out."

At this, Sonic's head snapped up from its resting place on his hands. His eyes narrowed, and he muttered something under his breath that she couldn't make out.

Chris was blushing furiously as he brought the receiver to his lips, presumably kissing his mother goodbye through the phone.

Autumn's heart went out to the little boy. He had such a big heart, proof being his saving Sonic and giving them a place to stay. He also had a loving family who cared bout his well-being.

As soon as the boy in question had hung up the phone, Sonic was by his side. The hedgehog sat on the balcony railing, his back to the beautiful scenery in the distance. He had a stern look ongis face as he spoke to Chris.

"Take a good look, kid. I'm a hedgehog, not a cat."

"At least you got mentioned," joked Autumn softly as she move from her place on the roof to stand by Sonic.

Chris rubbed the back of his neck a he apologized. "I'm sorry guys. I know that you're not a cat, Sonic. Please don't be mad. You see, my mom wouldn't understand."

"Why wouldn't she?" Sonic demanded curiously.

A loud '_smack_' was heard as the result of the palm of Autumn's outstretched hand made contact with the back of Sonic's head.

"Be nice," she scolded. "Christopher's mother obviously worries enough about her son without him diving into pools in the middle of the night. Don't be upset just because he called you a cat. He had a reason."

She received a grateful smile from Chris, and an apologetic one from Sonic. Satisfied that peace was made, she lapsed back into silence.

"Besides, what else could I have said to her? I couldn't tell her that I saved a talking blue hedgehog." Chris put up a good argument. "That reminds me, where and when did you guys learn how to talk?"

"Good question." Sonic scratched his head as he thought. "Unfortunately I don't have a very good answer. 'Cause I don't remember."

The spirals on Autumn's hands shined slightly as she became preoccupied with a few small balls of dirt. The questioning stares turned to her. Looking down, she responded in a voice barely above a whisper.

"My mother and father taught me when I was very small."

Her companions could tell that there was something else that she wasn't sharing, but they didn't press her for answers.

The phone in Chris's hand rang loudly in the silence that followed. The boy hesitated before he answered.

"Hello? Hi dad, how are you?"

Autumn, glad that the attention was off of her, moved back to her spot on the roof. He sighed as she lay down, and closed her tired grey eyes. She could still hear Chris talking to his dad.

"Nope, no scratches at all. I'm fine dad, honest, I am. It really wasn't that big of a deal. After I jumped in and pulled it out of the water, it was really happy. I could tell."

There was a pause as Chris's father spoke again.

"Besides, I could've had either Grandpa, or Ella, or Mr. Tanaka help me if I needed it.

Autumn opened her eyes and frowned slightly at the unfamiliar names. Deciding that she would worry about them later, she let her eyes drift shut once more.

"Don't worry dad," Chris continued. "They're takin good care of me."

Another pause.

"OK dad, I promise. See you soon." Chris hung up the phone as Autumn sat up again. She glared at Sonic when she noticed his slow, pitying head shake at the boy's expense.

Chris blushed nervously, and laughed before changing the subject.

"Hey, I almost forgot. You must be pretty hungry. I was thinking that you guys might like something to eat."

Sonic answered cautiously,"Yeah, I could go for something." Autumn nodded her head in agreement. "What's on the menu?"

Chris smiled in response. "I checked out hedgehogs on the Internet, and I found the perfect thing." He pulled out a dish of something dry and brown.

_'That looks like cat food,'_ she thought with amusement.

Sonic looked at the offered food with an incrediuos look. Not wanting to be too rude, he took a piece in his fingers, and slowly brought it to his mouth. He choked as he swallowed.

"What is this?" he nearly shouted.

Shocked, Chris retracted the bowl. "Cat food."

_'Ten points for me.' _Autumn laughed out loud at her joke, but stopped when an emerald gaze caught her own.

"Do _you _want to eat it?" he challenged.

Her grey eyes widened as she shook her head furiously.

With a smug look, Sonic turned back to face Chris.

"The website I went to said that most hedgehogs love cat food."

Autumn spoke up. "Well, you said it yourself, Chris. Sonic isn't like most hedgehogs."

The hedgehog in question made a face, and left to his feet. Balanced on the balcony railing, he gathered himself, and with little effort, launched himself onto a nearby tree branch.

"No!" cried Chris. "Please don't run away!"

Sonic turned slightly on his perch. "Sorry kid, but cat food just won't cut it for me."

"I'll get you whatever you want, just please don't go," the boy begged.

Sonic only waved. "See ya!" he shouted, and took off into the street below.

The boys shoulders slumped a he sighed in defeat. Autumn's hand patted him gently on the back.

"Don't worry, Chris. He'll be back. He's got no place else to go."

He smiled, grateful for her words of reassurance. "So what would you like for breakfast? I can get you anything you'd like."

She smiled a small smile, thankful for his hospitality. "Maybe an orange?" she asked. "Or some type of fruit?"

Chris's own smile widened. "Sure thing Autumn! I'll be right back!" he promised as he dashed into the house.

Chuckling, she sat in on of the wire chairs that was out on the balcony. Looking up into the clear blue sky, she hummed a happy tune.

"Maybe this place isn't so bad after all," he whispered to herself. "It's been so long since someone has actually cared about what happened to me..." she hesitated as she heard Chris returning.

His smile was huge as he placed a bowl full of fruit on the table near her. Her eyes shimmered with gratitude as she picked up a banana.

Peeling it slowly, Autumn began to think about her future. Finally coming to a decision, she bit into the ripe fruit's flesh.

Her tail quivered in delight as she closed her eyes and sighed.

_'I can be happy here.'_

* * *

****

Chris and Autumn had long since gone inside. They now sat in a small room with a television, a coffee table, and a greenish color couch. Autumb was seated in the middle of said couch, with Chris to her left, and Sonic to her right. Sonic had just returned from his exploration of the world outside of Chris's mansion.

He was currently munching on some type of food that Chris had gotten for him. Judging by the look on his face, Chris appeared ready to smack Sonic for his rude behavior. Autunmn herself wanted to do the same.

The television was on, and she turned her attention to it, in a vain attempt to drown out the crunching emenating from the hedgehog seated next to her. She shook her head and tried to focus on what was being said.

A skinny man with short black hair, circular wire glasses, an a white lab coat appeared on the screen. In his hands he held a light brown monkey. The primate had one hand aroun the man's neck, and the other hand was busy playing with the man's glasses.

**"As to answer the question of wether this is a U.M.A., or unidentified mutant animal, it is positively not. Even the cheetah, which is widely believed to be the fastest member of the animal kingdom cannot out run a speeding Formula One police car. Because of this, the inescapable conclusion that one must inevitably form is that this so called 'hedgehog' is in reality, a machine."**

Autumn rolled her eyes at the man's hypothesis. _'Silly, disbelieving humans,_' she thought. She saw Chris's hand twitch a bit towards Sonic's head as he continued to scarf down whatever it was that he was eating. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Suddenly, the door to her right burst open. There stood a man, far older than any that she had yet seen. He had dark purple shoes on, brown pants, a purple button down shirt, and a bright green vest on top. He also wore a long white lab coat, and his grey hair was sticking up slightly on the sides.

He marched into the room, saying "There you are," to Chris. Autumb held her breath as Sonic carelessly propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"Guess what, a big blue hedgehog and a big red fox came out of nowhere, and out ran the S-Team yesterday!" said the old man excitedly.

He finally glanced down at Sonic and Autumn. His eyes widened. He glanced at the television, then back at the two animals, and back to the television.

Nervously, Autumn skittered behind the couch. Sharing her feeling, Chris grabbed the nearest pillow and held it in place over Sonic's head.

Autumn peered over the back of the couch. She tappe Chris until he turned to face her. She whispered,"Chris, Sonic probably can't breathe like that."

Nodding, he removed the pillow to reveal an extremely annoyed hedgehog.

The old man, whom Autumn decided was most likely Chris's Grandfather, studied Sonic with a careful eye.

"Blue," he muttered. "Just like that..." He gasped in realization before grinning hugely.

Autumn slowly backed away from the couch until she reached the window. She liked Chris, but his Grandfather was scaring her.

Said Grandfather suddenly launched on Sonic, shouting "It's him!"

"Easy Grandpa!" warned Chris.

The old man pulled out a flathead screwdriver with a blue handle from one of his coat pockets. Holding a squirming Sonic in one hand, he began to poke around the hedgehog's back with his tool.

"I have to see just how this thing is put toghether!" the man gushed.

In his excitement, he must have loosened his grip on Sonic, for a second later he was gone.

Sonic landed next to Autumn who had been watching the events unfold with silent amusement on her face. The hedgehog, on the other hand, had a horrified look on his.

Chris's Grandfather made a move as if to go after him again, but Chris held him back.

"Grandpa, wait! He's not a machine. Neither of them are. He's Sonic the hedgehog, and she's Autumn the fox." Chris pointed at them respectively.

The man gasped and dropped his screwdriver. There was a thick silence in the moments that followed.

The pece was shattered a few moments later, when the television blared a breaking news report.

"And now, let's go live to this late breaking story," said a feminine voice.

A soft whimpering could be heard. Sonic's head snapped towards the screen, his eyes slightly widened.

**"Chao, chao!"**

**"Oh please! Please leave us alone," **sobbed an orange rabbit and light blue chao as they clung tightly to each other.

They were sitting on top of a billboard sign, and very high in the air. Firemen could be seen scaling ladders in an attempt to reach the pair.

"It's Cream and Cheese!" Sonic gasped.

"It's who?" questioned Chris in confusion.

Ignoring the question, Sonic turned to Autumn with excitement in his bright emerald eyes.

"We aren't the only ones who got transported to this strange world after all! Come on Autumn, we have to go save those two."

He grabbed Autumn's wrist and sprinted out of the room.

"Wait, Sonic!" yelped Autumn as she wa dragged down the sidewalk. "Do you even know where they are?"

The wind that was in her face died down as he slowed. She looked into Sonic's shameless face and sighed, shaking her head slowly.

She was whisked back to whee Chris stood, waiting for their return. He smiled when Sonic asked for directions, and told them to follow him.

Instead of to the place on the television that they had seen, the boy led them to a garage a little ways away from his family's mansion.

Chris's Grandfather was already inside, and was talking to somebody on the telephone.

The inside of the garage was beat, but filled with lots of gadgets, machines, and other strange objects. Sonic went straight up to one of them, and started mashing buttons. Autumn, bein the more respectful of the two, stood close to Chris's side.

A beeping sound and a weary sigh signified the end of the man's phone call.

"Well it seems that Sonic and Autumn's friends have been captured and moved to Area 99."

When Chris spoke, his voice carried a tone of disbelief. "Area 99? That's a top-secret military base!"

Sonic and Autumn exchanged confused glances. The former of the two spoke up.

"What?" he asked dumbly.

"It's where the National Special Defense keeps all of their tanks, fighter jets, and high-tech spying equipment."

Sonic frowned. "It sounds like Eggman's kind of place," he said almost to himself.

Chris's grandfather cut in. "Your friends have been taken there by the military, and placed under a 24-hour guard. Authorities believe that they may be aliens."

"For all we know, we are," reasoned Autumn.

"Or perhaps members of a mutant species, developed by an enemy power, designed to attack our population," the elder man continued.

"Well now that I know where my friends are, I'm gone. Let's get to it Autumn," Sonic demented.

Nobody moved, save Sonic as he continued to stalk out of the garage. He turned around when he realized that she wasn't following him.

She spoke softly. "Sonic, if we go to Area 99 without help, we'll be captured too. Please, let's wait until we find those who can assist us."

Sonic only scoffed, and boasted proudly,"They can't catch me!" He turned, and ran head-first into the now shut garage door.

Annoyed, he turned to face the humans.

"Open that door!" he demanded.

Chris silently pointed a shaking finger towards his grandpa, who was grinning slyly.

"It was me!" he said loudly.

Sonic blinked in confusion.

Sighing, Chris's grandfather continued. "Autumn's right. If you're gonna get your friends out of there, you'll need more help than just the two of you. Chris and I are coming with you."

Chris coughed nervously. "Uhh, Grandpa, are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," he said. "You told me just the other day that you didn't want to live a borin life like your father's. Here's your chance for an adventure!"

Now grinning, Chris nodded his head eagerly. "Well if you're up for it, so am I!"

"Alright then, let's get moving!"

Sonic and Autumn stood a few feet apart, their faces mirror images of shock and confusion.

"Sonic, they can't possibly be serious about coming with us. When I said we would need backup, I didn't mean them!" she whispered furiously.

"I know Autumn, but I don't think that there's anything you or I could do or say that could change their minds. We'll just have to be careful," he hissed back.

They slowly made their way to where Chris and his grandfather sat inside of a slick maroon convertible. The boy was situated in the front passenger seat, his grandfather on the driver's seat to his left. Without much enthusiasm, the pair climbed into the backseat, Autumn in one seat, Sonic to her right.

To the impatient Sonic, the trip to Area 99 felt like it was taking hours. In reality, it was only about three quarters of one. The small group made its way down a paved, one lane road, desert stretching as far as the eye could see to both the left and right.

Autumn was looking out the open window, using her powers to pick up the occasional boulder. When she got bored with her temporary toy, she would chuck into the expansive desert.

Chris and his grandfather sat quietly in the front of the car. Their wide grins of pleasure from earlier still present on their faces.

Sonic folded his arms with impatience. "It's gonna take forever to get there," he stated crossly. "I'd rather have just gone with Autumn."

The driver took his gave from the road. "Chill out Sonic, we'll be there soon enough."

"Is it time?" Chris asked with excitement.

His grandfathers smile widened. "It's time," he confirmed.

Chris handed a strange device to Sonic, who stared dumbly at it. He then gave the fox an apologetic glance, and said, "Sorry, but we only had one."

She nodded in understanding, though she was curious as to why he device had been given to Sonic as opposed to herself. Mentally, she scolded herself. '_They're Sonic's friends. It would make sense that he get the best advantage in rescuing them.'_

She tuned back into the conversation that es taking place around her. We blue friend had put the device on his headso that the larger part was situated over his right ear. A red shade covered his right eye, and a small microphone hung by the side of his smirking mouth.

"It's an infrared scope," explained Chris's grandfather. "I'm sure that Area 99 will have many infrared motion detectors that, when triggered, will set off security alarms. If you wear that, you should be able to avoid them."

Sonic nodded his head before unbuckling his seatbelt. Autumn copied his action, and hopped on to the waiting hedgehog's back. Lacing her arms around his neck, she gave him the go ahead.

He leapt from the car and ran alongside it long enough to shout out a quick, "See ya later guys!" before he dashed ahead.

Together, they made it to Area 99 in a matter of minutes. Sonic slowed to a stop, allowing Autumn time to return to solid ground. As she did so, she marveled at its size. Multiple security towers were scattered throughout the empty yard, and she could hear the electricity hummin through the fence that surrounded it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an enthusiastic "Got it!" from her companion. She stumbled backwards in surprise. He smiled guiltily as he pointed to his ear.

"Chris says find an air vent, and go through that. But how do we find one without being seen?"

She smiled. "I've got this one."

Closing her eyes in concentration, her hands were soon covered in a misty red glow. Slowly, she drew them towards the clear blue sky. When they paused there, Sonic could feel the ground tremble beneath his feet.

As her eyes flashed open to show a he red haze, her arms were brought down and to the sides in a sweeping motion. A tunnel was opened in the ground.

The mist faded, and her eyes returned to their original grey color. Glancing at the shocked look on Sonc's face, se chuckled softly before becoming serious.

"This will take us straight to an air vent. All we have to do is jump from the exit into it. I suggest a running start. We should go quickly before someone sees us."

Still slightly dazed by her display of power, he nodded, then flew down the hole in the ground. Autumn grabbed a few choice stones before following him in to the vent.

Crawling on his hands and knees, Sonic crept forward slowly. She nearly ran into him when he stopped short.

Confused, she asked him what was wrong. As far as she could see, everything looked fine.

"Infrared sensors," he answered. Thinking for a moment, he peered through a small grate on the bottom of the bottom of the shaft.

Smiling, he say on his haunches. "Piece of cake," he mumbled as he tore the grate out of its place.

Cautiously, he poked his head through the opening. He slowly climbed out. He landed soundlessly, right underneath a security camera.

Autumn decided to drop her rocks. Sonic's breathing stopped when he saw this, but let out a sigh as they hovered in place. Black boots situated themselves on the floating stones, and their owner grinned as she maneuvered them forward.

A flash of blue alerted her to Sonic's presence, and they raced each other to a cameraless corner.

Grinning at one another, the moved on silently. They passed through countless hallways, outsmarting each set of cameras they encountered.

They finally came to a stop. Thy had found a door with a sign that read 'Staff Only'. The scared whimpers of Cream and Cheese coul be heard, coming through the door.

Autumn and Sonic were locked in a whispered debate as to how they would go about rescuing Sonic's friends. In a stroke of good luck, the lights flickered out. Emerald eyes met ones of grey, and in silent agreement, they slipped through the now unlocked door.

The inside of the room was chaotic. Humans were yelling at each other and running around, no doubt trying in vain to get the power back on.

Sonic motioned for his companion to stay behind a large machine, hidden from the view of the others in the room.

There was the sound of shattering glass, a panicked,"Where'd they go?" and Sonic returned to where Autumn stood. This time though, he had Cream by his side and Cheese in his arms.

Squealing in delight, Cream shouted Sonic's name, alerting the others to their unwanted presence.

Quickly handing the small chao to Cream, Sonic and his friends took that as their que to leave the laboratory.

Sonc ran slower than he could've, for he ran with Cream's hand in his own. Autumn race ahead, using her strange powers to fly above the three below.

"Who is she?" questioned Cream as she nodded towards the fox. "She seems really nice."

Sonic grinned as e replied. "She's Autumn. But she can tell you about herself when we get out of this place."

She was quiet for only a short while before asking a question.

"How did you two manage to shut off all of the electricity?"

He hesitated to answer, mostly because he himself didn't know. "It wasn't us, Cream. I guess it just happened."

She giggled. "Maybe it's because you bring good luck everywhere you go, Sonic!"

"Chao!" was the enthusiastic noise that came from the blue blob in her arms.

"You may be right!" he laughed in reply.

No sooner had the words spilled over his lips, the lights blinked back on. Sonic screeched to a halt, a put out a protective arm in front of his friend. The cameras came back online, swinging their lenses around to focus in on the three figures.

"I shouldn't hav said that," fretted Cream. "I must be a jinx."

Sonic growled. "This isn't your fault."

Small lasers popped up out of the tips of all the security cameras, targeting Sonic, Cream, and Cheese.

Several rocks suddenly flew from around the nearest corner, and four broken cameras fell to the ground.

Looking around in surprise, Cream witnessed Autumn float by with a scowl on her face.

"Cream, hang on," ordered Sonic. He took hold of her hand once more, and began sprinting down the corridor, all the while dodging the oncoming fire from the remaining cameras.

As rocks continued to pummel the current threat, Sonic released his hold on Cream's hand, and told her to continue running.

He leaped onto the nearest security camera, and shouted out to his ally, "Hey Autumn! I've got these ones!"

The only response he recieved was a pebble to the back of his head.

Rolling his eyes, he forced the camera he was perched on top of to shoot out the rest of the ones that remained in the hallway.

Autumn flew by on a huge chunk of concrete. For a brief moment, Sonic wondered where she had obtained it. Shaking his head, he punched a hole in the top of the camera. He then grabbed some wires, twisted his hand, and pulled back out. As soon as the camera was offline, he hopped to the ground.

The fox had drifted farther down the hall, and was soon out of Cream and Cheese's sight.

**"D-2 Area lockdown in progress,"** came a sudden mechanical voice.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Oh no," he whispered before he sprinted to catch up to where Cream and Cheese were.

A steel door was beginning its descent as he reached them. Grabbing the surprised rabbit tightly in his arms, Sonic slid under the door, his nose grazing it's bottom.

Standing up slowly, he set Cream on her feet before surveying the current battlefield.

Autumn was floating in the center of the hall, pieces of earth rocketing all around her. They would block the random shots from the lasers, then destroy them.

She was injured slightly, the proof being the small patches of darker red present on her auburn fur.

Her weapons were suddenly joined by dozens of tiny yellow paper airplanes.

They crackled with electricity as they whooshed past a mildly surprised Autumn, easily taking out all of the remaining security cameras.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" asked a panicked Cream.

"I don't know, but we can't stay here to find out." said Autumn. "We need to find a way out."

The lights sputtered out again as they searched for an exit, leaving only the eerie res glow that came with Autumn's active powers.

The power may have been out, but the lasers from the cameras continued to fire. They did so spastically, and several shots were aimed at the wall. Through the damage, a gaping hole was left to reveal a large, winding spiral staircase.

The group ran through, trying to escape the destruction of Area 99.

"Sonic, are we going to make it?" cried a distressed Cream.

He reassured her. "Don't worry. We're going to be fine."

A stray laser beam cut a large hole in the stairs, leaving Sonic on solid ground but Cream in a free fall.

Screaming, Cream shut her eyes and braced herself for the harsh impact with the ground.

It never came. It was instead replaced with strong arms, and a small gasp.

Her brown eyes fluttering open, Cream looked into Autumn's soft smile. Hugging her tightly, she sobbed into her savior's shoulder.

"Sonic, go," ordered Autumn. "I've got her."

Giving a curt nod, Sonic jumped from one broken section of stairs to another.

Thet rendezvoused near the top of the stairs, well out of reach of the uncontrollable lasers.

"See, Cream? I told you we would make it, and we did. You didn't doubt us, did you?"

Cream now stood on he own two feet, and Cheese was flitting happily around her head as she shook it, smiling. Clasping her hands together, she spoke.

"Thank you for saving us. Both of you," she added, glancing gratefully at Autumn, who smiled back, though not quite as large. Sonic replied for her.

"Anytime Cream, anytime," he promised.

Blinking suddenly, he turned toward the wall that was behind him.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked.

Autumn and Cream exchanged confused looks as Sonic remove his infrared scope. His right ear now unhindered, he pressed it to the concrete wall. Autumn's own ears twitched as she heard it too.

"It sounds like a plane," she revealed to Cream who stood nearby, still with no understanding of what was happening.

Sonic whooped in happiness. "The Tornado!" he exclaimed.

Per his request, a hole was soon present in the wall. The glow from the spirals on Autumn's hands faded into nothing as she witnessed a small blue propeller plane flying close to the building. It was piloted by a familiar yellow fox with two tails.

Sonic gathered Cream in his arms and leaped through the gaping hole. He landed gracefully on the wing of the plane, then motioned for Autumn to follow.

She hesitated. Realizing that she was being foolish, she smiled shyly as a slab of concrete rose at her command. Jumping aboard, she floated up to join her new friends.

She grabbed onto the left wing, Sonic and Cream having been on the right. They were in the midst o a conversation.

"It was you who helped us get out of there," stated Cream with realization.

The fox's blue eyes shined as he winked.

"I only helped," he replied modestly.

Ignoring the curious looks that came from the pilot, Autumn turned her gaze down.

Far below them, Chris and his grandfather sat in their maroon convertible, smiling and waving. She chuckled to herself as she waved back.

The flight back was not long, but Autumn still found the time to doze off. She awoke with a start as the plane touched down, rolling to a stop in front of Chris's garage.

She hopped off slower than her companions, not quite sure of what to do. The others had congregated just inside of the garage. She joined them hesitantly, and made it in time for introductions.

"My name is Tails," the fox said happily," and I'm one of Sonic's best friends."

"My name is Cream, and this is my very special chao friend, Cheese. Thank you for helping us."

Everybody's gaze. Then turned to Autumn, who laughed nervously. Waving shyly, she spoke softly.

"My name is Autumn."

Feeling the tension in the room, Chris quickly changed the subject.

"Well I'm Christopher, and this is my grandfather," he said as he pointed.

He was currently preoccupied with one of Tails's small 'paper' airplanes.

"Extraordinary," he mused. "Tiny, radio-controlled airplanes. Extraordinary."

Tails smiled brightly at his words.

"We've got lots of neat gadgets!" he exclaimed, both tails whirling in excitement.

"Extraordinary," he repeated. "This is an amazing piece of equipment. It goes beyond anything I have ever seen. How did you develop it?" he questioned curiously.

Tails's brow furrowed in confusion. " It's nothing special," he said slowly. "Not in the world we come from."

Chris's grandfather's face took on the same expression.

"And where might that be?"

Tails paused before he answered with a shrug, "Beats me. But I think that we got here through a warp in time and space."

Chris's grandfather was silent as he took in the new information. "Interesting," he finally replied. "Not very helpful, but very interesting."

Tails shrugged again, apology flashing in his eyes.

He suddenly turned to Sonic. "I just thought of something. If you and me and Cream and Cheese and Autumn are all here, there's a chance that the others were brought here too."

Sonic rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

"You may be right about that," he mused. "And if you are, that means... Maybe..." He trailed off.

Autumn's mind was racing down the same path as his. She growled as she came to a conclusion. With hatred laced in her voice, she spat out three words.

"Dr. Eggman's here too."

* * *

Well there it is folks! Please review, any criticism is appreciated! I think I sould have the next chapter up by next Friday, but with my crazy life it may be a couple days later. We shall see! Toodles!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again guys! *waves* I meant to upload this a couple of days ago, but my cousins from Indiana dropped by, completely unannounced, and ruined my weekend. And just so yall know, I've got a big volleyball tournament coming up, so I'm not gonna have a lot of time to work on chapter four. *chuckles and rubs back of head neevously* heh, but I promise I'll do my best to get it up as soo a s I finish it! Mmhm, as always, criticism is appreciated, I love you guys, blah blah blah, does anybody even read the authors note? No? Oh. . . Alrighty then, I'm talking to myself. Nothing unusual here. . .

A special thank you to GUNMAN666 and Aj the human for favoriting/adding this to their favorites and stuff! Hooray! I love you guys:)

**DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I still don't own Sonic X or any of the characters. Autumn's all mine though. **

* * *

After the revelation of Dr. Eggman's presence, the new friends went their separate ways. About an hour or two later, Tails and Chris's grandfather were busy washing the Tornado, Cream and Cheese were seated at a picnic table eating doughnuts, and Autumn had found a haven on the roof of the garage.

She had just finished a lengthy conversation with Cream, and was a bit worn out due to the younger rabbit's energy. Cream had actually done the majority of the talking, Autumn being too shy to contribute much. They talked mostly about the world they had left behind. Cream's mother, her home, and her friends.

Her friends. Tails and Sonic apparently hadn't been the only ones sent here. According to Tails, Amy and Knuckles had been nearby when Chaos Control had gone off.

Sighing, she laid back, facing the blue sky. There were only a few clouds present as of now, the puffy white kind.

'_Cumulus, if I'm not mistaken,'_ she thought, then chuckled to herself. '_That one looks like a heart.'_

"What we see in the clouds shall foreshadow the day," came the whisper on the warm breeze.

Eyes wide, Autumn shot up in a sitting position. "That voice," she whispered. "I know it."

_**Flashback**_

_"Look momma!" squealed a small fox. She was just a few years old, five at the oldest. Her auburn fur glistened in the sunlight as she rushed to her home tree. _

_An older female poked her head out of the leaves of a maple tree. Her fur was a few shades lighter than that of the other. Her pale blue eyes shined brightly as she watched her daughter scale the large maple with little effort. _

_"Momma, momma!" the small fox shouted again. "Look t the clouds!"_

_Taking the auburn bundle in her arms, the mother carried her to the uppermost branches of their tree. Turning her eyes to the sky, she saw three different puffy blobs scattered across the expanse of blue. _

_Two of said clouds had no rhyme or reason to their pattern, just pure and colorless. _

_The third, however, had a distinct shape. _

_"Momma, it's like a spiral," whispered the child in awe. _

_The mother smiled at the expression on her daughter's face. _

_"Autumn, did you know that the clouds can tell us our fortunes?" Autumn shook her head slowly. "Well, I'd there is ever a pure white cloud shaped like anything, anything at all, that's what the day has in store for you."_

_"So what does a spirally shaped one mean?" _

_She chuckled softly at Autumn's curiosity. Placing a hand on her head, she replied. _

_"Honey, that's for you to find out for yourself."_

_**End Flashback**_

Autumn blinked back into reality. Looking down at her hands, she slowly stripped them of their gloves. Gently, she fingered the scars present of their backs. Spirals.

_'I remember that day,'_ she thought. _'How could I forget? The day I got my powers.' _

Her reminiscing was interrupted by the shouts of a frantic Chris.

"Tails, where's Sonic? I can't find him anywhere!"

"He left earlier. Said something about exploring," answered Autumn as she hopped off of her resting place on the roof.

"Is something wrong?" worried Tails.

Chris began pacing. "If the police catch Sonic, he'll be in big trouble. I hope he's being careful."

Tails shook his head slightly. "Carefully isn't really in his vocabulary. He likes danger," he explained.

Chris stated at him in disbelief. "We have to bring him back! He could be in a lot of trouble!" cried the boy.

Though with her doubts, Autumn pulled her gloves back on and activated her powers. Stepping onto a recently chosen slab of rock, she followed Tails and the Tornado into the skies.

After nearly a half of an hour of fruitless searching, Tails called out to Autumn, who flew nearby.

"This is like trying to find a hedgehog in a haystack!"

Autumn scratched the back of her head in confusion.

_'How hard can that possibly be?'_ she wondered.

Going back to the task at hand, she scanned the city streets, looking for a glimpse of blue that would show that Sonic was indeed near. No such luck.

She did, however, spot Chris and his grandfather speeding down the roads. The maroon convertible whipped around a corner, barely slowing at a stop sign.

Autumn shook her head as she began to descend. Landing in a park, she hid behind a large oak tree. Breathing deeply, she placed her glowing hands palm side down on the soft earth.

She heard no sounds. She saw only darkness. She cut off all of her senses except for one. Touch.

She could feel the vibrations in the ground that showed where people walked, ran, or jogged, but he cared not for them. Instead, she was searching for the soft tremors caused by a certain hedgehog.

She had memorized each of the vibrations that her new friends made as they walked, or in Sonic's case, ran. If he was anywhere within a seven mile radius of Autumn's current position, she would have little trouble finding him.

Before she could search thoroughly, she felt a strange movement. It was too large of a disturbance to have been a human. Judging by its heavy footfalls, she placed the unknown figure to weigh around 2,000 pounds.

_'Something that big can only mean one thing,'_ she thought bitterly as she rose. _'Dr. Eggman has made his debut.'_

So she would not be seen, Autumn made herself an underground tunnel. She made its end in a sewer, at a part with a ladder leading to the street above. She planned to intercept whatever robot Dr. Eggman had unleashed upon the city.

As she made her way to the ladder, she began to hear unfamiliar voices. She slowed as the became more clear.

The first voice was masculine. "Until I do find a way to get back, I'm not going to rest or get sidetracked."

A second, female by her tone of voice, complained, "But Knuckles," it began.

She was interrupted by three loud bangs, and as Autumn peeked around a wall, the cavern they were in shook violently.

Autumn decided to enter at that moment. Her curious grey eyes took in a male echidna. He was completely red except for a white, upside down crescent moon on his chest, and white gloves with two spikes on his clenched fists. His dark purple eyes narrowed as he sized her up.

The girl was a light pink hedgehog. She wore a red halter dress with hot pink boots. Her eyes were green. Not emerald, like Sonic's, but like a deep, endless forest. They sparked with curiosity as she asked the question on both of their minds.

"Who are you?"

Wasting no time, Autumn answered. "Autumn. An you're Amy and Knuckles, I presume? Tails an Cream have mentioned you." She held up a hand to stop the flow of questions coming from Amy's mouth.

"I can explain later, but right now Dr. Eggman is destroying this city. We need to stop him."

Agreeing, Knuckles led the way up the ladder. Carefully removing the manhole cover, their eyes beheld the destruction. Cars lay wrecked in the street, cement was torn up, buildings were aflame, and people ran, screaming in terror.

The small group wasted no time in springing from their hiding place and following the slow moving robot down the street. A missile shot from one of its wrists, taking out a line of nearby cars.

As it smashed through the front of a building labeled 'Third Bank of Station Square', Autumn heard a laugh from above her head.

Glancing up, she spotted Dr. Eggman hindering in a metallic sphere. The sunlight glared off of his glasses as he spoke to his robot.

"Missile Wrist, go to the roof. We can do more damage from up there."

With that, the evil man rose to the top of the building.

The police arrived just as Dr. Eggman and his ally reached the top of the roof. Even from fifty-four stories below, Autumn heard his obnoxious laughter.

An image then projected itself from Dr. Eggman's small ship.

"Hello there. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Eggman, and I have some exciting news for you! Well, exciting for me. It's actually catastrophic for you. I have decided to take over this world and make it a part of the Eggman Empire. Resistance is futile. You will submit to my rule or be swept away like dust bunnies." He finished his announcement with another annoying cackle.

Becoming slightly anxious, she sent Knuckles and Amy ahead of her to the roof. She needed to find the right tools for her job.

"Can't be too big, can't be too small... Gotta be big enough to do damage, but small enough to throw..." she mumbled as she searched.

After about a minute of scouring the wreckage, Autumn made her choice: a thick slab of solid concrete, about seven inches in width and three feet in length.

Jumping aboard, she used her powers to take her to the roof.

As she rose, she heard one of the policemen yell through a bullhorn.

"Turn yourself in now, or we'll use force to haul you in."

Dr. Eggman only laughed in response. "You must be joking. You haven't got the firepower to match my Missile Wrist."

The policeman in charge continued shakily. "We aren't kidding around. Come down or we'll take you down ourselves."

"I am the one giving the orders here," shouted Dr. Eggman darkly. At the snap of his fingers, Missile Wrist's right rocket launched, hitting the ground a few feet in front of one of the police cars.

Autumn paused in her ascent, checking below her to see if anybody had gotten injured. Though she was satisfied that nobody had, she remained where she was as a precaution.

The missile was retracted, and it snapped back into its rightful place.

Dr. Eggman chuckled again. "Now, will you surrender your city to me?" he asked, fingers ready to snap once more.

"Uhh... That isn't my call doctor. But I can get the mayor-"

"Then go!" he interrupted. "And bring him to me."

A black limousine pulled up, and a smartly dressed man ran out and grabbed the bullhorn from the policeman's hand.

"Who are you?" Dr. Eggman demanded and answer.

"I am the mayor of this city. I won't be blackmailed into negotiating with the likes of you!" he spoke bravely.

"We shall see," Dr. Eggman said ominously before snapping his fingers.

The building directly behind the mayor went up in flames due to the huge robot.

_Every fiber in Autumn's body froze. 'Nit fire,'_ she begged silently. _'Please, Siri help me. Anything but fire._'

Sure enough, the flames died down, leaving behind only smoke as a reminder of what had happened.

"Mr. Mayor, are you ready to negotiate with me?" Dr. Eggman cackled.

Coughing, the man tried to answer. "Well, technically our charter doesn't allow me to surrender the city."

The edges of the doctor's bushy mustache twitched in annoyance.

"Missile Wrist, destroy this place before I-"

He was cut off by an angry shout, "Eggman!" It was Tails.

In the Tornado, he flew at the doctor. Chris, who was in the backseat, had his eyes shut tightly in fear.

Swooping low, Dr. Eggman had to duck or be hit by the blue plane.

"Attention Missile Wrist!" he ordered. "Take aim at the flying fur ball and knock it out of the sky!"

"Acknowledged," came the mechanical reply.

Immediately after the word had entered the air, the Tornado was under attack.

Skillfully, Tails maneuvered the small plane out of harms way. This kept up the whole time as Autumn made her way to the roof. The attacks on her friends were getting closer to their target, until one of them hit. The left wing and engine of the plane were completely destroyed.

Greatly angered, Autumn decided to intervene. Her eyes glowing fiercely, she pummeled the robot with the sharp stones that littered the surface. Vaguely, she heard the arrival of Knuckles and Amy.

Not slowing in her assault, she called out per her shoulder. "What took you guys so long?"

"Hi-ya!" a battle cry rang out.

Taken by surprise, Autumn spun around, her eyes back to their original shade of grey. Those eyes widened, for she saw Amy holding a giant yellow and red hammer.

Foolishly, she ran up to the dented robot and slammed her weapon into its leg, despite the frantic cries of Knuckles and Autumn.

Missile Wrist had been unaffected by the hit, and soon had the pink hedgehog in its grasp.

Enraged, Knuckles leaped toward his captive companion. Poised to punch the wiring out of Missile Wrist's head, he was

intercepted by Dr. Eggman.

"Hold it there Knucklehead. One more step and the girl's a goner," he warned as his robot tightened his hold on Amy, who cried out in obvious pain.

"Leave her alone or you'll be sorry," Autumn threatened softly.

"I'm sorry dear, but who are you? Oh, never mind that though. You were lucky to have survived. My only consolation is that it would seem tht Sonic didn't." He glanced around nervously. "Or did he? Maybe this is all a trap!" he shouted.

A cheer erupted from the Tornado. Some time during her fight, it ha transformed into an aerodynamic flight machine with four new wings in the shape of an X.

"Get him, Sonic!" shouted an excited Chris.

The Tornado flew low to the ground, and Autumn caught a glimpse of blue as it shot by.

A golden light became visible as Sonic sped closer to te building where Dr. Eggman and the others were.

"There he is," the doctor mumbled, almost to himself. He then spoke louder. "Get ready to fire."

Wordlessly, Missile Wrist flung Amy over his shoulder. Screaming, she flew through the air. As she neared the cement ground, Knuckles dove forward to catch her. The pink hedgehog muttered a thank you in his ear.

After watching the exchange, Autumn became aware of the battle taking place between Sonic and the robot.

Wandering over, she soon found herself standing on Knuckles' left side. Not particularly paying attention to the ongoing fight, she took the time given to her to study the red echidna.

He was tall, about four inches more so than herself. His lips were curled into a confident smile as he watched Sonic make fun of Dr. Eggman. His deep purple eyes flashed in excitement as tey witnessed the robot's head be smashed through by the blue hedgehog, though she caught the longing that passed through as well. Longing to be a part of the action.

The robot exploded, and Autumn lifted a section of concrete to protect the three of them from the sharp debris. Amy and Knuckles stared at her is disbelief. The edges of her mouth twitched into a small smile.

"Later,"she promised.

As the dust settled, the saw a semi-charred Dr. Eggman emerge, choking, from the clearing smoke.

Sonic stood, facing him with his hands on his hips. Smirking, he made one last jibe at the doctor.

"You lose."

"This isn't over, blue boy," growled Dr. Eggman as he rose into the sky. "You haven't heard the last of me! I will rule this world, this universe, and he Chaos Emeralds will be forever mine!" With that last promise, he disappeared.

During the silence that followed, Autumn wondered what the Chaos Emeralds were.

_'Maybe they have something to do with Chaos Control,'_ she mused. _'I'll have to ask later.'_

The silence was shattered as soon as Amy caught sight of Sonic.

"Oh, Sonic!" she cried as she hugged him tightly around the neck. "Sonic, you're alright! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Autumn cast a curious glance at Knuckles, who was trying to hold back his laughter. Smiling widely at her, he shook his head in pity for his friend who was trying to escape the prison that was Amy's arms. Shyly, Autumn smiled back.

Pounding feet alerted the four that they were not alone. Five men, all heavily armed and in masks, entered onto the roof and aimed their guns at the four animals.

"Alright, nobody move," one of them ordered. Autumn could see Knuckles' fists tightening, wishing to pound the man who was trying to tell him what to do. Gently, she placed her hand on his shoulder. When his bewildered gaze met hers, she shook her head. Sighing in defeat, he relaxed his spiked hands.

"Don't try running away," the man warned. "You're surrounded and fifty-four stories off of the ground. There's no place to run to."

"Sonic!"

All heads turned in the direction of the yellow fox who had shouted.

Tails flew the Tornado close to the edge of the building, a flimsy rope ladder dangling off of one side.

Grabbing onto Amy, Sonic took hold of one of the rungs. Autumn moved to follow, but hesitated when he realized that Knuckles wasn't coming.

He was standing in the same place she had left him, his hands clenched once again, this time trembling in silent rage.

Her tail twitched nervously as she eyed the men whose guns were still trained on them, ready to fire.

"Knuckles," she begged softly. "Please, let's just go."

Slowly, he calmed down. When he got to the point where she could grab his hand and drag him away, the small plane was almost out of reach.

Using her powers, Autumn constructed a staircase for herself and Knuckles that led up to the Tornado.

The two of them now clinging to the ladder, Tails flew them out of the city. As they soared over a densely wooded, unpopulated area, Chris suggested that they all go back to his house.

"Yeah," agrees Tails. "Cream and Cheese are there waiting for us!"

"Wow," squealed Amy. "so we're all here together? That's so great!"

Scoffing, Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Ciunt me out," he said lowly. "This is where I get off."

With that, he let his grip on the rope rung slip completely.

Startled, Autumn reached a hand out to catch him, but stopped when she saw the look in his eyes.

Determination. Strength. Confidence. They all swam in the deep purple depths, along with another emotion that she couldn't place. Waving slightly, she smiled and let out a content sigh.

_'I'll see him again,'_ she thought. _'I know it.'_

As the red echidna disappeared from her view and into the lush green forest below, she heard Amy and Sonic's discussion.

"Why isn't he coming with us?" she asked, astonished that he wouldn't be joining them.

"It's Knuckles," he explained. "And Knuckles will do things his own way."

* * *

Hmm. . . It's funny, this chapter took me the longest so far to write, but I think that it's the shortest. Funny how that works. So I told y'all about the whole I'm gonna be really busy this week and it might take extra long to update thing? Yeah? Good. And yeah, I'm going by the Jetix, 4kids version.*dodges randomly thrown objects* I know, I know, I know. Im sorry. I really don't feel like doing the Japanese version because it seems like too much work. So I apologize, but you're stuck with this version. So if ya have any criticism, or a question, or you want to review, the review button is right there so click it! Or just PM me, either is fine. Until next time! *waves again*


	4. Chapter 4

Well y'all had better love me. I stayed up until 4 finishing this. I'm at school right now, and falling asleep in English sounds pretty darn good right now. So I I fail English Ibalance you guys, sound good? Perfect. yeah, so without further ado, Chapter four of A New Perspective!

Thank you to The Mystery The Hedgehog for reviewing! You're so sweet!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic X, or any of the characters. Autumn's mine, and that's it. **

* * *

"So this Chaos Control created a warp in time and space? And that's how you guys ended up here?" Chris asked for clarification.

In the morning after Dr. Eggman's first attack, the eight friends met in the attic of the garage, which also doubled as Chris's grandfather's bedroom.

The owner of the room was seated at a desk chair, typing away at something on his computer. Amy sat in a light purple beanbag, while Tails and Cream sat side by side on an orange one. Cheese was snoring lightly in Cream's lap as she stroked his head gently, a smile present on her face. Chris paced, trying to wrap his small mind around the information that the yellow fox had given him.

Sonic was laying on a window seat with his hands behind his head. Autumn stood across the room from him, her back to the wall and arms folded in front of her chest. She stared out the window to her left, appearing very uninterested. In reality, her ears were cocked toward the ongoing conversation, her brain soaking up the information about the Chaos Emeralds.

"Each Chaos Emerald is filled with a magical power. So you can imagine what would happen if you found all seven of them," explained Amy with a faraway look in her eyes.

"But nobody has ever found all seven emeralds, and now it seems highly unlikely that anyone ever will," interjected Chris's grandpa.

He elaborated when he received confused glances from Tails, Cream, and his grandson.

"Well every one of the Chaos Emeralds has disappeared."

_'Disappeared?'_ though Autumn, still not facing her comrades. _'Surely they can be locate again.'_

"They may be gone now, but that doesn't mean it's forever," came a voice from across the room.

All heads, Autumn's included, turned to Sonic as he continued. "Any time that the seven Chaos Emeralds come together in one place, they scatter. Then you have to ind them all over again."

"Then that means that they're all still out there somewhere!" concluded Chris with excitement.

"Well yeah. Only we don't have any way of knowing where they are," reasoned Tails. "If they're on this planet, that great and all, but we have no way to locate and gather them all. If they're still on the world we came from, we may never get home."

"Look. If the emeralds are on this planet, and if we can come up with some way to find and collect them, maybe we can find a way to reverse the time warp that brought us here. Maybe we can go home."

Seven shocked expressions were trained on the speaker as she finished. None of them wanted to admit it, but they had forgotten that she was still there.

Sonic, being the first to recover from the shock, grinned widely and spoke up.

"Yeah, that's right Autumn! No worries."

* * *

After Chris had gone off to school, his grandfather left them with the warning to stay out of sight. Not wishing to be shut up in a house all day, Sonic had gone for on a run.

Tails was curled up in the orange bean bag, fast asleep. His twin tails were fluttering slightly as he breathed.

Smiling to herself, Autumn slid down the wall to sit underneath the window. Amused, she watched him sleep. The way he was now, tails twitching as he dreamed, she was reminded of her past.

Her smile lessened some as she thought of her former life an best friend. Her heart throbbed painfully as she blinked back the years that threatened to overflow their boundaries.

Amy and cream had noticed this from their place across the room, and shared a concerned look. Making their way over to her, Cream sat on Autumn's rift side and Amy took to her left. Curling into her lap was Cheese, his small head nuzzling her hand. Chuckling in spite of the ever present sorrow, she petted him slowly, not making eye contact with the girls on either side of her.

"What's the matter Autumn?" prodded Amy softly.

Turning to face her, the auburn fix hesitated before she gave in.

"It's Tails," she sighed. "He looks so innocent. It just reminds me of a friend of mine from when I was younger."

Cream looked puzzled. "But shouldn't that make you happy?"

Sadly, Autumn shook her head. "It's not a happy story, Cream."

The three lapsed into silence, the only sounds coming from the birds outside and Tails' steady breathing.

"Why don't you tell us?" suggested Amy. "Getting it off of your chest might make you feel better."

Silent war waging in her head, Autumn pondered the suggestion. After a few moments, she nodded cautiously. Settling in for the story, Amy and Cream made themselves comfortable.

"Her name was Siri," whispered Autumn as she began. Voice slowly gaining strength, she told her tale. "She was a fox, like me. We lived in the same colony, in Maple Grove. She had beautiful, pure silver fur, except for the tip of her tail and her ears which were pitch black. She had golden brown eyes, and always wore a black jacket."

She grinned as she reminisced the good times.

"We called her Star Siri because of we obsession with space. She loved the stars, but had one favorite. I named it after her. I'll show it to you tonight if you would like."

Autumn paused, and smiled at Cream and Amy's enthusiastic nodding. Along a shaky breath, the fox continued.

"We were complete opposites, and it surprised everybody when we became such close friends. She was so outgoing, and got along with everybody, while I was really reserved because of my powers. I didn't want anyone to know about them because I bought I'd get teased. But Siri was so kind about them, that we were soon inseparable."

Autumn closed her grey eyes tightly before her voice lost power once again, making her friends have to strain their ears if they wanted I hear the rest of the story.

"I think we were either eleven or twelve when it happened, so it was only a few years ago. We were sitting on a riverbank, and Siri was telling me about the stars, and how she longed to visit space one day. We heard an explosion, and the woods behind us were suddenly on fire. Siri and I ran into the grove, trying to find anybody that was in trouble, but there was no one. They had either died or had run away in fear."

A slow moving tear rolled down Autumn's face.

"I couldn't find my parents, but Siri found hers. They were laying under their tree, not moving. She threw a fit and ran back to the river and I had to sprint to catch up to her. When I got there, some robot had her in its grasp, and was flying into the sky toward a huge ship."

Vaguely, she heard Cream whimper and Any gasp, but was too caught up in her story to take much notice. Opening her eyes, Autumn was sobbing silently.

"I could've done something, but I couldn't. I was so scared, and I just stood there as Dr. Eggman took my best friend from me. I don't know if shes still out there, or if he still has her. But I made myself a promise that night that I would find her. And I swear that I will."

By that time, Tails had woken up from his nap. He sat on the orange bean bag, sorrow being expressed in his clear blue eyes.

Orange arms wrapped themselves around her torso, followed by a set of pink ones and yellow ones. At the sudden close proximity of the three, Autumn tensed.

"Oh, Autumn!" cried Cream. "I'm so sorry! We'll help you in any way we can."

Amy nodded and chimed in as well. "Don't worry about Dr. Eggman, we'll take care of him."

"Yeah," agreed Tails. "Were your friends now. Nothing will happen to is, and we'll make sure that nothing happens to you."

Autumn could feel her walls crumble to nothing at his words. She knew that what he had said was true, and that she didn't have to be as shy around them. Finally hugging them back, she felt the hole in her heart that Siri's disappearance had left begin to heal. It would be a slow process, but one that would eventually be complete.

* * *

When the tears had dried and she had assured them that she was fine, Autumn climbed to the roof. He say with her knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around them, and chin resting on her legs. Seeing one of the trees rustle suddenly, her keen eyes made out a blue figure resting on one of the larger branches, waving at her. Relaxing from her tense pose, Autumn chuckled at Sonic's antics.

Growing bored of sitting still, she called upon her powers. Almost carelessly, she raised a hand, it's spiral glowing a faint red. Small handfuls of dirt from one of Chris's mother's gardens rose to her height and slowly circled around her. Moving slowly into a standing position, Autumn formed a ball from the still orbiting dirt. It became smaller and smaller as it became more compact.

Now finished with her project, she caught the ball in the palm of her hand. It was about the size and weight of a baseball, but the fox knew from experience that it was stronger than steel.

A shout from Cream caused her to drop the ball on her foot. Yelping at the sudden pain, she glared at her creation before picking it up and hopping off of the roof. She landed just in time to see Sonc's speed off. Cream stood alone in the yard, hands clasped in front of her, underneath the tree that previously held Sonic as he slept.

"Cream," she called as she strolled over. Once she had the young rabbit's attention, she continued. "What's wrong? Where did Sonic go?"

Cream grabbed Autumn's hand and jumped up and down in excitement. "Oh, they've found one, they've found a Chaos Emerald!"

Back by the garage, she could hear the hear the Tornado's engine starting up.

"That's great Cream," she said smiling. "I should go help them retrieve it."

Cream pouted. "Alright, but please be careful."

Nodding to her friend, Autumn jumped onto a flat boulder from the backyard and took off after the fast mining plane.

As thy moved closer to the downtown area, she finally managed to catch up to Tails and Amy.

"Hey Tails," she called out over the wind. "Where are we going?"

He pointed straight ahead an replied,"A downtown construction site, about four miles away."

Nodding in acknowledgement, She rocketed forward. After a few minutes, she passed by Sonic. He stood on a red pole, waving at her. Waving back, she pointed in the direction that she was headed. A small smile tugged at her lips as she heard his shout as he slid down the pole.

"Chaos Emerald, here I come!"

She watched him hop from building to building, rushing in the direction of the emerald. In response to his unspoken challenge, Autumn followed behind the speeding blue hedgehog.

So focused on beating him to the finish line, she nearly missed it when he stopped and looked over the edge of the building.

Stepping off of her rock to stand next to him, her eyes widened at the sight of a swarm of hundreds of people running down the street.

"What's going on down there?" she asked him, worry dancing in her eyes.

Sonic said nothing, but he turned to the right and growled menacingly.

Whipping around, she saw two flying was Dr. Eggman in his half circular hovercraft. The other figure was a large purple robot, bearing some resemblance to a bird of prey.

"So Dr. Egghead thinks that he can nab that Chaos Emerald before we do, huh?" he thought out loud. "Hang on!"

Autumn barely had time to register the warning before she was swept off her feet, into Sonic's arms, and shooting over the rooftops at a high speed.

Now somewhat used to the winds, she was able to keep her eyes open. Looking into the sky behind them, she could see the rapidly approaching form of Dr. Eggman's bird like robot.

"Sonic," she warned,"robot at six o'clock, and it's coming up quick."

He didn't reply, but as he leaped through the air in between two buildings, he tossed her back to the one they had just left.

Summoning a chunk of concrete to slow her fall, Autumn landed on her feet. Confused at his reasoning, she turned to ask, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.

At the sound of a plane overhead, she looked up, her eyes shot to thy skies, hoping to see Tails and Amy. To her dismay, she instead saw the purple robot attacking Sonic as he fell toward the earth.

The beak of the machine kept striking the hedgehog, answering her question of how he had gotten in higher into the atmosphere.

"Autumn!" she heard him call. "Go get the emerald, I'll be fine!" Hesitant to leave, he weighed her options. Deciding that his suggestion was best, she gave a slow nod. Calling on a new rock, she continued on her way to the construction site.

When she arrived, she could see Dr. Eggman climbing out of his hovercraft.

Concentrating, Autumn could feel the Chaos Emerald in the earth, it's enormous energy pulsating through the ground. Just as the doctor's chubby fingers were about to close around it, she encased it in dirt and brought it to her waiting hand.

Shocked, the man turned around.

"Give that back. It's not yours!" he snarled.

She was about to reply with a smart comment when she heard Chris call her name.

While she was momentarily distracted by the boy's arrival, Dr. Eggman took the opportunity to attack. Striking the fox with the back of his hand, he snatched the Chaos Emerald as it flew out of her grasp.

The force of the blow sent her into the metal framework of the partially constructed department store. Shooting pains emanated from the back of her skull when she tried to raise herself up from the ground.

Through a deep fog, she could just barely see Chris clambering onto the doctor's hovercraft, most likely trying to get the emerald back for her.

Stumbling, she tried to stand. The world around her spun, and she sank back to her knees. Hands were suddenly on her shoulders, and through a tunnel she could see Sonic, his worried eyes scanning her figure. His lips were moving, but his words fell upon deaf ears.

Pushing his hands away, Autumn pointed into the cloudy sky, where the small form of Chris was falling rapidly to the ground. "Chris..." she whispered, words slightly slurred.

In a whirlwind of blue, Sonic disappeared. Struggling to stay awake, he kept her eyes trained on the descending human.

He was about to impact the ground with the street when a blue streak shot by and caught him, saving his life.

With a sigh of relief, she collapsed in a heap in the dirt. Content that her friends were safe, she allowed the oncoming darkness to wash over her, the colors of reality fading away.

* * *

Nothing. There was nothing there, only the absence of light. Nothing as far as Autumn could see. Straining her ears for some source of sound, she could just barely sense something beyond her range of hearing. Perhaps they were the whispered words of somebody from far away. Deciding to see for herself, she started to walk blindly forward. She did so cautiously, feeling with her feet as she went on her way.

Unease filled her body due to the silence, so she tried to fill it by speaking to herself. Much to her surprise, no sound escapes from her dry lips. Halting in her journey, she tried to scream, yet only received the same result.

Another shock greeted her in her mind. She could hear her thoughts, which meant she could still keep herself sane. Slowly, she continued on her way forward.

_'Alright. So I don't think that I'm dead,' _she thought a while after her head began to hurt._'If I were, I think it would be less painful.'_

Her ears twitched suddenly in response to actual noise. Sounds became more clear, and when she squinted, she could see a growing light.

Throwing all previous caution to he wind, she sprinted at the expanding brightness with all that she had left.

Autumn grinned as she ran on, finally being able to comprehend the words that were being spoken.

"Hey, don't poke her. It's not nice."

"When is she going to wake up?"

"I don't know, she's been out for quite a while now. It's already dark outside."

"Oh, I hope that she's alright."

Slightly confused, she continued to run until the light engulfed her entirely.

Gasping, Autumn shot into a sitting position. Breathing heavily, she glanced around at her surroundings, trying to identify where she was. She relaxed her tense form when she saw that she was sitting in the window seat of Chris's grandpa's bedroom attic.

Amy, Tails, Cream, and Chris crowded around her, all asking questions at the same time.

The bewildered fox clutched at her head because of a splitting headache that had just arisen.

The relentless question asking ceased immediately, and Amy handed her an ice pack for her injury. Sighing in relief, Autumn accepted the gift and placed it on the back of her throbbing skull.

She snuck a peek out the open window, watching the skies. The night was pitch black, with the exception of the brightly twinkling stars that shone in strong contrast to the curtain of black. The color pattern reminded her of her lost friend, and she remembered something that she had to do.

Interrupting whatever conversation that had been taking place, Autumn spoke in a raspy voice.

"Cream, Amy, if you would like to see it, now would be an ideal time."

Following her gaze, the two girls caught sight of the stars and knew what she meant.

Leaving behind a confused Chrs and Tails, the autumn fox led the hedgehog and the rabbit out of the window and onto the grass of the backyard. The three lay down, their backs pressed flat against the ground. Amy was on the far left, followed by Autumn, and then Cream.

Searching for a moment, Autumn's grey eyes found her lucky star, Siri.

"There," she whispered as she pointed. "The one in between the others in a line. The actual constellation's name is 'Orion's Belt,' but Siri's favorite was the middle one, so I named it for her."

All was silent as Amy and Cream looked at the stars. The three girls stayed outside, and talked for hours about the stars and space, Autumn answering each and every question the way her best friend would have. When the dawn approached, its light pink and yellow tendrils of color stretching over the sky and hiding the stars, Autumn carried a sleeping Cream inside before going back and picking up Amy.

Laying her friends on the bean bags, Autumn yawned deeply. Moving to the window seat, she curled up into a ball and drifted off to asleep with a soft smile on her face.

* * *

Well my volleyball tournament went well! We lost to some Canadian team in the silver finals, so we came in twelfth place. Not bad right? Ha ha, so yeah! Taa daa, you learned a little about Autumn's past, and you learned the story behind the lucky star. Epsilon Orionis, the actual name of the star, is my personal favorite, and I wish and pray to it every night. So you may not have liked how I added in her past so early on, but I thought it was important. So i will update next week, but I'm going to a wedding, so I'll try my hardest!


	5. Chapter 5

Well hello there! 0.0 *dodges randomly thrown objects* Hey, watch it! Please don't hate me for being like, a week or so late, I had the flu for seven days. **SEVEN DAYS**. And I honestly couldn't find enough strength to actually type this. But don't worry guys, I survived! *happy dance* but I also have a butt load of homework that I have to do from the days of school I missed.*groans and starts to cry* But on the brighter side, I've got less than one month of this torture left! Oh, and soccer finally ended on Thursday, so theoretically I should have more time to work on this. But hey. I'm pretty lazy, especially since the weather here has been super nice. I need to even out my awkward soccer tan lines. . . And now you're probably sick- ahaha, sick. Just don't get the flu! *dies of laughter*- of reading this author's note, so I'll just let you read then. Enjoy!

Oh, and thank you to _**suntan140**_ for adding this to your favorites and _**dream lightning**_ for adding this to your favorites and reviewing!

* * *

The morning that followed the collection of their first Chaos Emerald, Autumn and her friends had nothing to do but rest. The green gem was being held in a glass container, where Tails, Chris, and Chris's grandpa hovered, the boy asking the fox about a thousand questions about it.

Smirking softly at his curiosity, Autumn reopened the thick textbook that had been in her lap. Making herself comfortable on the window set, her grey eyes scanned the small words quickly. The book was on stars, and had been given to her earlier in the day by Chris.

_Flashback_

_"Hey Autumn, I've got something for you!" shouted an enthusiastic Chris as he flew into the room above the garage. _

_Slightly startled, the auburn fox turned to face her human companion. He held his hands behind his back, obviously hiding something. By the way his eyes shined in excitement, she could tell that he thought that she would enjoy the surprise, whatever it may be. _

_"Tails told me that you loved the stars and space, so I asked my teacher, Mr. Stuart, for a book on them," he explained as he pulled out a textbook from behind his back. _

_It was large, about an inch and a half thick, and black with the word 'Astronomy' in silver block letters across the front. _

_"I thought that you might like to read it," he finished hopefully as he held out the book to her. _

_Without hesitation, Autumn reached out and gingerly took hold of the book. Smiling happily, she bowed her head in thanks. _

_"Thank you, Chris."_

_End Flashback_

Autumn turned the page, grinning at the happy memory. The room was silent as she read, save for her friends as they conversed quietly about the Chaos Emerald.

The peace was too good to last, for a loud knock could soon be heard coming from the wooden door.

Four pairs of shocked eyes turned toward the noise. Trying to calm her erratic nerves, Autumn closed her book and set it down softly on the seat next to her before she rose from her spot.

"I know you're in there," sang a women's voice from the other side of the door. "You haven't let me clean your room in so long, I'm issuing a dirt alert!"

_'A dirt alert?'_ thought an amused fox as she glanced at Chris's panic stricken face.

"It's Ella!" he cried frantically. "Quick guys, hide!"

Tails's head whipped around, searching for a place to hide, but his tails drooped when he found none. Autumn sat on the purple bean bag with a blank look in her eyes, an a sweet smile on her lips. Taking notice, Tails copied her position on the orange bean bag. He had just situated himself when Ella burst through the door.

According to Chris, Ella was the maid and cook for his family, the Thorndykes. She was not a small woman, but she was not large either. She had short, curly brown hair an dark, scrutinizing eyes. Wearing a sky blue dress with a frilly white apron, she clutched a small vacuum in her left hand.

"Ah, I thought that I'd find you in here Christopher."

"Oh, hi there Ella," coughed Chris as he feigned surprise and waved.

Ignoring him, the maid cast a careful look around the room before sighing with discontent. Starting the vacuum, she began to work it along the floor.

"Keeping this room dust free is a losing battle!" she exclaimed. "Not that I'm complaining, but trying to clean this place is like trying to vacuum a dirt road!"

Autumn tried to keep herself from laughing as, through her mind's eye, she saw Ella with her vacuum on a dirt road. She remained perfectly still, but through the corner of her eye, she could see Tails's body shaking with laughter.

Ella might have seen it too, for she turned to face the two motionless foxes. Her expression went from one of confusion to one of happiness at the sight o them. Smiling widely, she squealed as she kneeled by Tails. She then brought her face close to his, her dark eyes studying him.

"They're so precious!" she gushed. Turning back to face Chris, she asked, "Chris, are these your toys?"

Nervously, the boy put his hand behind his head and laughed.

"I'm, uh, I'm taking care of them!" he stammered out an explanation.

Luckily for them, Ella bought it. "Ah, how sweet of you! They almost look real!" she said, turning back to the 'toys.'

Tails must have done something, for the look on the maid's face became surprised. Chris must have seen it too, because he ran over and grabbed Tails from his place on the bean bag. His grandpa walked briskly over to Autumn and picked her up as well. He hid her face in the crook of his elbow, allowing her time to blink her dry eyes.

"I think I'll go outside and play," said Chris quickly as he sped out of the room with Tails.

"Um, I think I'll go with him," said his grandfather shakily, following his grandson with Autumn still in his arms.

As soon as they were free from the watchful gaze of Ella, Tails was moved to Chris's back. Autumn was given to the boy as well, and he balanced her with one arm as he kept a hold of the other fox.

Laughing as he ran, Chris breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow guys, that was a really close call!"

"We sure fooled her!" chimed his grandfather. Feeling somebody's gaze, Autumn glanced up to see Sonic laying on a balcony railing. Her grey eyes met his emerald ones, and she could sense his unhappiness. Confused, she pondered his reason, only to smirk once she had it figured out. Judging by his current position, he had been asleep, and their laughter had woken him from his nap. Childishly, she stuck out her tongue at his sour expression.

Chris then collided with something, and she bit her tongue as she impacted with the ground. She was about to rise and scold him about watching where he was going when she realized that he had run into a person. From the corner of her eye, she could see a tall Asian man with a very unamused look on his face.

He wore thin wire glasses, and was dress in a simple black tuxedo with a blue bow tie that matched the color of Ella's dress. Laying motionless, she listened to him as he spoke her companions.

"Master Chris, what, may I ask, is going on?" he questioned in a businesslike tone.

"Uh, well, you see, grandpa and I were just playing capture the stuffed animals," stammered the boy. Noticing Autumn's absence, he searched frantically before finding her face down in the dirt. Scrambling to pick her up, he murmured an apology before rearranging Tails so that he held both foxes in front of him.

Very slowly, he creeped around the man, who's face had taken on a doubtful expression. "Ha ha, um, bye."

A the three friends continued to back away, Chris's grandpa began an argument with the man. Autumn didn't hear the majority of the conversation, but the end result was the tall man leading his grandpa away, saying "Come now Mr. Thorndyke, rest is important."

"Tanaka, I don't need a nap! I have work to do!"

The dispute continued like this until they had gone inside the mansion, the echoes of the quarrel ringing for a few moments after they had left.

Blinking in surprise, Autumn asked to be set down. As Chris complied, she asked him who that man was.

"Oh, him? That's our butler, Mr. Tanaka. He's really nice once you get to know him," was the boy's response.

Not three seconds after the words had left his mouth, Amy ran into him, knocking herself, Chris, and Tails to the grass.

_'Poor Chris,'_ thought Autumn as she helped the pink hedgehog to her feet. _'He keeps running into people in the most literal way.'_

The boy had risen as well, and had taken up reprimanding her.

"Amy, you know how dangerous it is to go wandering around here by yourself! Somebody might have seen you!"

"I know that Chris," she tried to explain. "But I just saw a news report. It looks like they found another Chaos Emerald."

Together, the four of them rushed inside the mansion to the living room. The television was already playing the news report by the time they arrived an we're seated on the couch.

**"The strange energy spikes, which seem to be coming from the Silver Valley area, have played havoc with computers and other machinery across the entire region. Investigators are looking into possible sources, and are suggesting a link to the recent discovery of a gem with similar properties."**

After the report was finished, Amy turned the television off and swung her expectant gaze toward Chris.

"You know," he thought aloud. "Silver Valley isn't all that far from here. Let's go check it out!"

Tails and Amy nodded enthusiastically and raced to the exit. Autumn followed behind Chris, shutting the door quietly behind her. She could hear Amy talking to Sonic, most likely trying to get him to tag along with them on their trip.

"We're going to Silver Valley," she was saying. "Come along and we can have a picnic there."

"But Amy," interrupted Tails with a confused look. "We're going there to look for an emerald." All he got as a reply was a cold glare.

Sensing the tension, Autumn cut in quickly. "Maybe we can have a picnic as well," she suggested. Amy's glare melted into a smile, and she turned back to Sonic, still waiting for a response.

The hedgehog was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "No thanks guys. I've been there already."

Amy gasped in shock. "What? You went there without me?"

Grey eyes rolled heavenward at this. In the short time that she had known Amy and Sonic, Autumn could tell that the pink hedgehog was head over heels in love with him. She could also tell that he cared for her, though it was clear that it was only a friendship.

"Oh, so you went there on one of your runs," Amy stated rather than asked, barely able to contain her anger.

Sonic shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way, saying, "Yup, you guessed it."

The fire rekindled, she curled her hands into tight fists and shouted back at him, "Fine Sonic, who needs you?" She turned back to her other friends hi had been watching the exchange from afar, slightly afraid of the pink one's wrath.

"Come on," she commanded as she marched over to join them. "We can have a lot more fun with out him anyhow."

"But how are we going to get there?" pondered Chris. "My grandpa's resting, and I can't ask for Mr. Tanaka or Ella to drive us."

Amy looked a question at Tails, but the fox was already shaking his head. "If I fly us, we'll be spotted for sure."

"So what will we do?" Autumn inquired from her position next to Chris.

Silence filled the air until Tails's yes lit up. Twin tails whirling in excitement, he spoke his plan. "I've got the perfect way, but we're going to have to hurry."

* * *

Almost a half of an hour later, Autumn was curled up on the warm metal of a slow moving train en route to Silver Valley for an emerald hunt. Amy, Tails, and Chris were in the car below her, the former two acting the way she and Tails had earlier; like dolls. Chris had wanted her to come inside with them, but she said she would much rather be on the top, in the open air, and the boy had respected her wishes.

Laying back with her hands behind her head, she regretted not being able to bring her book along. It would have given her some form of entertainment on the journey. Alas, Ella had still been cleaning the room when they had finished packing their picnic, so the book had to be led behind.

With the sun's warm rays hitting her closed eyelids, the auburn fox drifted off into a light slumber. She barely stirred the whole ride there, only occasionally opening her eyes to peer at the passing scenery.

She did, however, jolt fully awake when the train came to a screeching halt. Seeing Amy, Tails, and Chris step off, she slid down the opposite side, avoiding any windows to keep from being seen. Only when the train had left the platform did Autumn move to join her friends.

"Alright then guys," said Chris when she had reached them. "It's around11 a.m. now, so we can have a look around for a while, and we can stop some time for our picnic."

The three animals nodded in understanding, though Autumn had another idea in mind.

"How about we split up and search in pairs? We can cover more ground in less time that way. Amy and j can go this way, and Chris and Tails, you two can go that way," she suggested as she pointed to the right and left. "We can meet back here in an hour and have our picnic whether we find the Chaos Emerald or not."

"That's a great idea!" praised Amy. Quickly, she handed the picnic basket that she had been carrying to Chris, and grabbed Autumn's hand. Dragging the fox away, she shouted out a farewell. "Good luck guys, and we'll see you soon!"

After a few minutes of walking, Amy let go of Autumn's hand and skipped along, the two girls sharing a sweet silence. Deciding to make casual conversation, the hedgehog began to ask her companion some questions about herself.

"So Autumn, when's your birthday?"

Turning slightly toward her, the fox answered with a smile on her lips. "It's on September 23, the first day of autumn. It's the reason for my name."

"Oh, that's really clever! Mine's on January 4, and I'll be fifteen next year," she gushed.

"Well, I think that I'll be 16 later this year. I'm not entirely sure though," said Autumn with a shrug.

Amy gasped and stopped in her tracks. Noticing the pause, she turned and cast a quizzical glance at her.

"You don't know how old you are?" she sputtered in surprise.

Her tail fluttering in embarrassment, she shook her head. "I remember having a celebration for my tenth birthday, but after that all of the years sort of flow together, you know what I mean?"

Amy nodded her head slowly, but Autumn could tell that he actually had no idea what she had meant. Changing the subject, the pink ball of energy asked more questions as they went on their way. Her favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite time of day, and so on and so forth. Not feeling too social at the moment, the auburn fox tried to reply with the least amount of words possible. Teal, walnuts, twilight. It continued like that for almost the entire hour they searched until Amy asked a specific question.

"What was your childhood like in the Maple Groves?"

Autumn's pace quickened as they made their way back to the meeting spot for the picnic before she responded.

"It was bliss," she answered softly. "I had a mom and dad who loved me to pieces, a d a best friend to share the night with. What more could I ask for?"

Continuing to search for the emerald, Amy was oddly quiet for some time. As they finally reached their designated picnic area, they could see Tail and Chris already seated on on the blanket, setting up the food that they had packed.

Running to sit with them, the four friends discovered that there was actually no Chaos Emerald in the Silver Valley area. Becoming restless, Autumn excused herself and wandered away.

Closing her eyes, she activated her powers and pictures the scenery as the vibrations revealed it to her. She could see a depression, presumably where the lake was located. She could see the animals that moved around in the forest to her left. And she could see a mountain in front of her, a massive forest on its peak. Deciding to see the view from the top, she opened her eyes and found a rock to ride on. Hopping aboard, she soared higher and higher.

Finally, she reached the green expanse of trees that lined the edge of the cliff. Taking in the beauty, Autumn sat on the ledge, her legs dangling off of the side. She sat there for a few minutes with no disturbances. As soon as she thought _'It's so peaceful here,' _she knew that she had just jinxed herself.

_'Crash'_

Trees began to fall, toppling over one another. Autumn leaped to her feet, and quickly brushed her hands off on her thighs before entering the fray in search of the cause of the destruction.

She spotted the source as she vaulted over several broken trees. A red figure was punching down the evergreens for no reason obvious to the disturbed fox.

"Knuckles!" she cried out in desperation.

He turned towards her, surprise Evident on his face. He masked it well, his expression turning to the fallen trees once more. Swinging his burning eyes back to a very confused Autumn, he lost his temper.

"Way to go, Autumn! You made me lose him! I had that blue trouble maker right here, and you just had to distract me, and now he sped off to who knows where, and we'll never finish our fight. It's all because-"

"KNUCKLES!"

He blinked in surprise at her sudden outburst. Of all of the reactions he had foreseen, her current one wasn't on his list. Autumn looked livid. Her hands were balled into fists, her entire body trembling in rage. Her eyes were narrowed into slits, glaring at the red echidna, who took a step back.

She breathed deeply a few times and calmed herself down. Looking up at Knuckles, she addressed him in a relatively easygoing tone.

"So tell me, Knuckles, what you were doing knocking down the poor trees? What did they do to you?"

His brows furrowed as he fumbled with his words.

"Uh, they, they didn't do anything to me. I was just in a fight with Sonic and he was hiding in the trees, so I, um, I had to knock them down."

Autumn closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers, her other hand resting on her hip. "Never mind, I don't want to know why you were fighting him. Just be careful with the nature of this world. Please?"

"Sure thing Autumn. See ya 'round," he called over his shoulder and he slid down the side of the mountain in search of his opponent.

She shook her head. "Boys," she sighed. Following her disappearing red friend, she used her powers to slide down the mountain as well. Laughing at the rush, she was reminded of the time she went snowboarding one winter. This was just like that, just without the board. Or the snow.

Reaching the bottom, her eyes beheld a terrible sight. A huge robot stood by the edge of the lake, Tails, Amy, an Chris inside of its large glass chest. It's back was to her, and Dr. Eggman floated in his little round contraption not far off. Over to the left, she could see Sonic and Knuckles resuming their fight. Thinking quickly, she made a move to attack the robot.

As she prepared her attack, the robot exploded on its own. Moving with new motivation, she rocketed into the billowing smoke. Upon reaching it, she found Tails, Amy, and Chris leaning out of a jagged hole in the glass, gagging on smoke and gasping for air. Levitating a large rock, Autumn loaded her friends aboard and flew them to safety.

Less than half of a minute after she had been made sure of her friends well being, Sonic whizzed by and knocked the robot off of its feet.

"This is not over yet Sonic!" Dr. Eggman screamed. "My robot may be down, but it certainly is not out!"

As soon as the words had left his mouth, the previously defeated machine began to stir. The shovels that had been its hands snapped into a new place as feet, and a new head popped up on top of its new body.

Smirking evilly, Dr. Eggman gave a single command.

"Attack."

The robot did just that. Bullets streaked past them, shot from the small guns located around its upper body. Autumn's hands glowed red, and she therm them to the ground. It tumbled for a moment before a depression formed. Only a few few feet deep, it was an ideal hiding spot for her three friends. Pointing to it, she spoke.

"Stay here." With that, she ran to join the ongoing battle. Jumping into the air, a ball of rock encased her right foot. Swinging it in a deadly arc, she took out four of the guns that had been attacking her and Sonic.

She landed gracefully in a fighting stance, a satisfied grin on her lips.

A battle cry rang out from behind her, and a red being soared through the air toward the robot. Using the same move that Autumn had used just moments before, Knuckles destroyed the two remaining guns.

Growling fiercely, he turned to face Dr. Eggman.

"This is a battle between Sonic and me," he shouted. "I'll fight my way."

Autumn glanced at Sonic, one eyebrow raised. He flashed her a quick grin and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fight your way, hm?" the doctor queried. "Well, if you insist on fighting a clean fight, I'm going to start playing dirty."

He snapped his fingers at his robot, and it rose into the air via the rockets attached to its legs.

"Uh oh," stated Sonic once he heard the whirring of a cannon that was preparing to be fired.

Before the shot could be released, two giant hands reached up and pulled the machine back to the ground. The rock hands crumbled along with the robot, and Autumn crossed her arms, the glow from her powers still lingering.

"You insolent brat!" screamed Dr. Eggman. "You could've wrecked my robot. And it isn't even insured."

The fox shrugged carelessly. "My bad," she called out.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, the man pushed a button in his hovercraft. From behind a panel in the outer metal came forth a laser. It was soon trained on Autumn, who got into a fighting stance, ready to fend off any attack that may come her way.

"Give me the Chaos Emerald, and I'll promise not to hurt your new friend," he propose to Sonic.

Though she remained focused on the bigger threat, Autumn could hear her friends exchanging words.

"What is this?" asked a confused Knuckles. "Dr. Eggman swore to me that all he wanted was to live in peace."

"He sure is tricky, isn't he," stated Sonic.

There was an ominous moment of thick silence before the echidna spoke softly, yet fiercely.

"That swindler. He lied to me!"

The mechanical sound of shifting gears filled the tense atmosphere, once again signaling the rise of the robot.

As soon as Dr. Eggman took his eyes off of Autumn to see his creation, she took the opportunity to strike. Leaping backwards, she swung her right hand to the sky. A ball of earth followed the movement, severing the laser gun from the rest of the hovercraft.

The pudgy man's mustache twitched in obvious annoyance, but he turned his attention back to his now standing robot.

"I'm not calling it quits just yet!" he warned. "You have only caught a glimpse of what this robot is capable of! Sonic, you and your friends are through."

"I'd like to see you try and beat us," challenged Sonic as he rubbed his nose arrogantly.

Smacking herself lightly in the forehead, Autumn sighed. _'Way to go Sonic,'_ she thought as Dr. Eggman smirks._ 'You've probably just made this harder than it needs to be.'_

She ushered the hedgehog to where Tails, Chris, and Amy were hiding, and told him to stay there and to protect them.

On the robot, panels above and below the destroyed guns slid to the sides revealing several rocket launchers. Autumn's shoulders tensed, and her tail flicked around nervously, waiting for the first shot.

When it came, she was prepared. He agile fox dove out of harm's way, rolling over her shoulder to he to her feet quicker. She continued this maneuver until she spotted a familiar red figure, also dodging shots to her right.

"Autumn," he called. "You go, I can take care of Eggman."

Judging by his tone of voice, she could tell that Knuckles had a score to settle, and she was more than willing to let him fight his own battles.

Slowly, she made her way back to her other four friends. She couldn't always see how Knuckles was doing, but when she heard the rapidly fading yells of Dr. Eggmanshe knew that he was fine.

Then the explosion happened.

The light was bright, enough to momentarily blind Autumn, Sonic, Tails, Chris, and Amy. Blinking back her vision, the auburn fox constructed a shield of rocks to protect them from the strong winds of the explosion beige she set off in search of Knuckles.

She found him after a few minutes of searching. He was being flung through the air like a rag doll, along with the debris from the destroyed robot. Concentrating, she pulled up a wall of earth to slow the winds before she caught him gently in her arms. Seeing the look of shock on his face, she set him down rather quickly and took a few steps back, her hands clasped behind her and a small smile on her lips.

He studied her for a few moments, his dark eyes taking her in once more. His expression melted into a smile, and his eyes softened. Silently, he bowed his head and uttered two words that made her own smile widen.

"Thank you."

As their eyes met once more, Autumn's ears twitched, hearing the frantic calling of Amy and Tails as the searched for them. Breaking the connection, Knuckles turned his gaze toward the forest behind him. Following his look, Autumn chuckled, knowing what he wanted.

"Just go already," she said softly, surprising her companion. "I can tell them for you."

He smile again at her before backing away a few paces, his spiked hand raised in farewell.

"I'll catch you later Autumn," he said before turning and running into the cover of the tree line.

The young fox sighed once he had disappeared from her line of sight. As she began her walk back to where the others were searching for her, she hesitated. Glancing back towards the last place she had seen Knuckles, she contemplated following after him.

Barking out a short laugh, she shook her head to clear it of the thought. Head held high, she made her way over to her friends, waving as they caught sight of her. _'I have what I need here,'_ she thought as Amy hugged her tightly around the waist. _'Why change that?_'

* * *

And there it is! Finally. Now we move onto writing chapter six! Yay! Which might take a while. *smiles sheepishly* Sorry guys, but I've got finals coming up, States for volleyball this weekend, i have to act out a scene from Romeo an Juliet *I'm Juliet! How exciting is that? :D* and I have to write and preform a telenovela for my Spanish class. It's a soap opera. Whoop de doo. So basically, my life is hectic. But what else is new? And I apologize for my cliché ending, I just couldn't think of another way to do it! And are any of you guys catching the hints as to what the pairings might be yet? No? Ok, I'll work on that. Any criticism is welcome, as always! You're all great, thank you for reading! When I started, I thought that nobody would like this. Oh! And I'm playing around with a story line for a Danny Phantom fanfic, so that might occupy some time too. Maybe. I might not actually write it. It's just an idea. And I'm rambling. Again. Toodles! *waves*


	6. Chapter 6

Hello to all of y'all who are reading this right now! I'm in a surprisingly great mood at this moment, and nothing could bring me down! Not even the F I got on a Spanish quiz! Ok. Maybe a little. I got grounded for it. Really mom? She took my phone for three days and said, and I quote, 'Just because you're almost done with school, it doesn't mean that you can slack off and do shitty work in your classes.' -.- geez mom, it was a four question quiz and I got two wrong. Relax. The only way I can get a B in the class is if I totally bomb the final. Which isn't gonna happen. *knocks on wood* Sorry for the delay in the updating, I've been cramming, I mean studying, (cramming) for my finals. yep, I'm still in school! Y'all are jealous. Woah, just kidding. My school district hates us so we go really late. Mmhmm. OH. An I changed my pen name from **_thereader15_** to **_black angel's wing_**. The old one just didn't fit me. But enough about me, on to the story!

Oh boy, I had enough people review to have a little section where I can reply to them! Hooray!

**_The Mystery The Hedgehog: _**  
Haha, thank you for all of your kind words! I'm not so sure that I'm going to go that far into the series though. I mean, that one episode is a pretty long ways away. I'll tell you of I plan on it, and you can remind me to add Molly's death into it! oh, and I blame spellcheck for everything :)

**_dream lighting:_**  
Thank you, I'm really glad that you like Autumn! And you shall find that out soon enough :)

**_Skagui the sniper:_**  
Gee! Thanks for the review. And that favorites and subscriptions, it really means a lot!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Autumn. **

Chapter 6

The sky was perfect. There were no clouds, and only the soft rays of the early morning sun gave light to Autumn as she sat atop the garage roof, knees to her chest, watching it rise. It's pink fingertips crept higher and higher, brightening the night and signaling the beginning of a new day. The rose suddenly faded, and the sun made its first appearance of the day, slowly climbing above the trees that were scattered alon the horizon.

This had become a daily routine for the fox. She had lost track of the days since their last encounter with Dr. Eggman, and everyone was enjoying the breif time of peace. Yawning, she rose to her feet and stretched her arms. Smiling at the bright sun once more, she made her way through the open window to greet her waking friends.

"Good morning Autumn," greeted Chris as he walked through the door, struggling to balance a tray of sandwiches in one hand and a pitcher of lemonade and cups in he other. "How was the sunrise this morning?"

Eyes slightly widened, he rushed forward to take the pitcher from the boy's shaking hand, afraid that it's contents would end up on the floor. He nodded his thanks and set the tray on a nearby desk.

"It was beautiful, as usual Chris," she replied to his question as she set the lemonade in the same area. Deciding to taunt the boy, she continued. "And we wouldn't want you to spill this on Amy while she's sleeping, now would we?"

The two glanced at Amy, who, despite having opened her eyes just moments before, was snoring softly on her makeshift bed; the purple bean bag.

Chris's complexion paled noticeably, and shuddered in fear. At some point during this exchange, Tails had woken up, and he was laughing at the boy's reaction. Said boy was scowling at the twin tailed fox, but he only continued to laugh. The other fox rolled her eyes and kneeled beside Amy, gently shaking her shoulder to wake her up.

The pink hedgehog did so slowly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning hugely as she rose. She glanced around as she became more alert before she turned to Autumn, tired confusion in her eyes.

"Where's Sonic?"

Autumn smirked and nodded her head at the open window. "He left about an hour ago," she explained. "He said that he was going for a run, and that he'd be back later."

As soon as the words had rolled off of her tongue, there was a rush of wind. Without looking, Autumn called out a greeting.

"How was your run Sonic?"

"Pretty quiet. Nothing much happens in the mornings around here."

A grin still on her lips, Autumn rose from her spot by Amy and turned to her friend. "Maybe," she began, "that's because everybody with any sense would still be sleeping."

Confusion flickered in his eyes as he processed what she had said. "But you were awake too!" he argued.

Autumn's grin faltered as she realized that what he had said was true. She chided herself for losing the round of word play to Sonic, and childishly stuck her tongue out in his direction.

He grinned in satisfaction, and then snagged two sandwiches from Chris's tray. Following his lead, they rest of the group reached over and took food for themselves. The friends ate in silence for a few minutes before Sonic disappeared out the window. When he was gone Chris spoke.

"Oh, I almost forgot! My mom and dad are stopping by for a visit this afternoon, so I'm counting on you guys to stay out of sight. Don't worry though, it won't be for very long."

"Chris?" came a voice from the doorway. "What are you still doing here? You'll be late for school if you don't hurry up."

Chris whirled around to look at the small clock on the wall, and gasped when he notices the time. Turning back toward the door, he darted past his grandfather who stood is his way.

There came a thud from the bottom of the staircase followed by a quick, "I'm alright!" from the boy who, in his haste, had fallen down the stairs.

Shaking her head in pity, Autumn moved to go sit on the window seat. Leaning her head against the cool wall, she closed her grey eyes and listened to the sounds of the birds coming from the open window beside her.

"He sure is happy about his folks coming to visit, isn't he Chuck?" asked Tails.

"Yes," answered Chris's grandfather. "Because of the work they do, they aren't around that often to see him."

"What do they do?" questioned Amy with curiosity.

"Chris's father is the president of a huge software company. He spends most of his time at his office, or traveling on some sort of business."

"And what about his mom?" came Amy's next question.

Chuck sighed. "She's a star. The famous actress, Lindsey Fair. She jets around the world making movies."

There was a brief pause before Tails spoke softly.

"I bet it's pretty tough for Chris to not have his parents around most of the time."

At this, Autumn quickly rose and grabbed her Astronomy book from the seat beside her. Wordlessly, she turned and jumped out of the nearby window. She landed lightly on her feet, and walked quickly across the lawn.

Once she reached the base of the large oak, she scaled it's trunk with ease. Settling in among it's branches, she opened we textbook to the last page that she had read. On it was a picture of the sun, and there was a lengthy description beside it. After a few pages, she sighed loudly and closed the book once more, her mind being too preoccupied to comprehend what she was reading.

Her busy mind began to drift back to what had transpired mere minutes before. Frustrated with everything, she slammed her fist into the trunk of the tree she had taken refuge in. After her anger was let out, her eyelids became heavy with the sorrow that had been masked by the other emotion. Curling up into a comfortable position, she gradually allowed sleep to overtake her overworked mind.

* * *

The auburn fox was dead to the world. She did not stir when Amy came around, calling out to her, trying to find her. She did not twitch when a helicopter flew by and landed on the roof of the Thorndyke mansion. She did not move when the wind carried two new voices to her ears. She did, however, wake up to the screeching tires of a school bus that signaled Chris's return home.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Autumn briefly scolded herself for sleeping through the majority of the day. Quickly, she grabbed her book, slid down the trunk of the oak tree, and ran across the green grass, and back into the haven of the garage.

Still drunk on sleep, she stumbled the whole way as she shot up the stairs and threw open the door to their secret room. Much to her confusion, it was completely empty.

She then moved to the window, hoping to finds some sign of her friends. Amy wasn't all that hard to spot, what with her being a pink hedgehog and all. She and Tails were cautiously making their way toward one of the mansion's windows.

Vaguely, Autumn remembered Chris telling them that his parents were coming to visit today. With the combined curiosity of both Amy and Tails, Autumn guessed that they were trying to catch a glimpse of the boy's parents.

Laughing at their attempts at not being seen, she remained where she was. Pouring herself a glass of lemonade, she took the time to read more of her book, and waited patiently for Amy and Tails to return.

* * *

As she read, the time slipped by slowly. Amy and Tails had come back, and she had been told the physical features of both Mr. Thorndyke and his wife. Sonic had come and gone, never able to stay in one place for too long. That is, as long as he wasn't napping. He was currently sitting on the roof next to Autumn, who had gotten bored of reading and had wanted some fresh air.

It was growing later and later, and Chris still hadn't returned from school. Everybody was getting worried, and the air was thick with suspense.

"He should be home by now," mused Sonic.

"Yeah, it's not like him to be late, epically with his parents here to see him," Autumn, her voice betraying her worry. "I have a bad feeling about this."

In response, he stood up and held a gloved hand out to her. Not fully understanding his intent, she took it, allowing him to help her to her feet.

"We're going to go find him," he clarified, "so let's get going."

Grinning, Autumn levitated a rock towards the two of them.

"So am I driving or are we racing?" she asked with a small laugh.

"On your mark." was his reply.

"Get set."

"Go!"

* * *

Sonic had won the race to the city, but Autumn had not expected anything less. She suggested that they go to his to school first.

_'Maybe he was playing with his friends and just hasn't notice the time,'_ she told herself, trying to soothe the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

That thought left her mind as soon as she and Sonic reached the schoolyard. A large robot with glaring red eyes stood off to the side. This one was somewhat human-like, with arms and a changing expression on its face. It had what resembled a graduation cap on its head, giving the impression that he was supposed to be intelligent. Dr. Eggman was there as well, standing in front of what Autumn guessed was Chris's class. He was posing as if somebody was either drawing him or taking his picture. In fact, all of the kids had sketchbooks and pencils with them, so it was a possibility that they were.

"What do you think they're doing?" inquired Autumn with bewilderment. "Is he making them draw him?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes and answered seriously. "I have no idea, but we've got to get Chris home."

She nodded her assent, and they took off.

Sonic ran in between Dr. Eggman and the kids, headed for the nearby flagpole. Autumn flew above him, landing at the base of the pole while Sonic made his way to stand on the top.

Crossing her arms and leaning against the cool metal, Autumn waited for Sonic to speak, or for the doctor to notice their arrival.

Her friend made the first jibe. "I always knew you were a poser Eggman," he taunted, a smirk obvious in his voice.

"But this is just weird," chimed Autumn with a disapproving shake of her head.

The doctor growled at the jests, and barked at his robot.

"Inteligente!" he called.

"Sir?" saluted the machine.

"Get rid of Sonic and his little foxy friend."

The "foxy friend" let her breath out in an annoyed huff. "I have a name you know!" she cried in exasperation.

If he heard her, he paid her no mind. Instead, he have a pointed look at Inteligente, who saluted his master again and answered him with a "Yes sir! Whatever you say!" and got into a fighting stance.

As soon as he did, the top of his hat moved back to reveal several rocket launchers. _'Why is it always rockets?'_ wondered Autumn as the robot began his attack. _'And how do they even fit inside his body?'_

As she activated her powers, she pushed a small wall of earth toward an oncoming rocket. The two met in midair, and the force of the explosion was enough to knock the fox back a few feet.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Sonic cutting through the air, dodging the rockets and headed towards the ground.

He landed gracefully on the ground, and took of at a sprint toward their attacker. On a whim, Autumn raised his path a bit, propelling him into the air. Sonic curled himself into a ball, and struck the robot squarely in its chest.

A small explosion followed, and Autumn threw up a wall of rock over the forgotten children, effectively protecting them from any debris. Only when she knew tht they were safe did she let the wall down.

Sonic strode out from the wreckage, and stopped to stand in front of a glowering Dr. Eggman.

"You know, one of these days I will best you Sonic!" he roared as he hopped into the hovercraft that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. Sonic and Autumn scoffed in unison, though it was only the first who came up with the witty comeback as the cowardly man flew away.

"I'd like to see you try, Egghead."

Atutmn suddenly remembered the children that stood behind them. Turning quickly, she locked gazes with a few of them, their expressions that of awe. Shyly, she put her hands behind her back and retreated a few paces, her head lowered in embarrassment.

Sonic turned as well, addressing Chris.

"You should hurry home now Chris," he said as he nodded in the general direction of his house. "Your parents are waiting for you."

Autumn couldn't hide the grin from her features as she witnessed the delight the came across her friend's face. He took off after saying good bye to his friends, and Sonic went to follow him.

Smirking, Autumn dusted the specks of dirt from her white t-shirt. Her hand shrouded in the familiar red glow of her powers, the small piece of earth that she stood on began to levitate. She continued to rise, and once she was high enough, began her ride back to the Thorndyke mansion.

* * *

Autumn was back in the foliage of the oak tree, though this time she was determined not to fall asleep. She was nestled higher in the branches than she had been earlier, and was watching the sunset. A sigh escaped her lips as she watched the light change colors. From shades of yellow, to those of pink, and then to orange, they sky was always beautiful. It became even more so when the light had diminished completely, leaving only the twinkling stars and a bright crescent moon in its place.

She glanced in the direction of the mansion when she heard the joyous laughter of a happy family. Smiling to herself, she saw Amy and Tails peeking in the window, trying to catch a glimpse of them. Through the din of the crickets, her keen ears could pick up on the words being exchanged between the hedgehog and the fox.

"The Thorndykes seem like a real nice family, don't they Amy?" asked Tails, a hint of longing in his voice.

"Yeah, they do," she replied with a sigh. "I'm glad that Chris made it home in time."

Tails nodded in agreement before looking to the sky. Autumn followed his gaze, and got so lost in the stars that she missed the fox's last statement.

"It always feels good to get back home."

* * *

Well I have exams tomorrow and it is *checks watch* 12:25 am! So technically, I have exams in 7 hours! Whoop dee doo. Yeah. No. Well it seems like Autumn's finally opening up a little bit! Hooray! Eh. Kind of a short chapter, but hey. At least it's a chapter. This is one of my least favorite episodessound I had a really hard time with this one. If anyone is having not an easy time picturing her with powers, think Terra from Teen Titans! just as a fox, and red glowy hands instead of yellow. Mmhmm.

In other news, I finished the prologue for my Danny Phantom story! *cheers* but I have a tiny problem. Dont actually have a computer, and I do berthing on my iPod *thank goodness it works the same* but I don't have access to the full episodes of Danny Phantom if the aren't on YouTube. Soo, if any of my fantastic readers has connections with YouTube people, would they love me enough to post them? Pretty please? *bats eyelashes*

Oh, and I start summer soon! Which means Florida which means no Internet which means no updates till I get back. In two and a half weeks:) so please don't shoot me when I get back. Love y'all!


	7. Chapter 7

So yeah, I'm alive. I've got a boat load of excuses as to why I haven't updated in a while, but I don't really think that you'll care. You just want the next chapter, don't you. Don't lie, I know that it's true. So here ya go!

**_Skagui the sniper_**

aww, thank you *blushes* and hells yeah I do! Especially with bacon inside of them! Ooh, or chocolate chips! *gasps* or both! They're fantastic :)

**_dream lighting_**

Thanks, I'm glad that you like her! Thanks for adding my story to your subscription list!

**_The Mystery the Hedgehog_**

O.O well I guess I've got a lot of work ahead of me, don't I? Please don't strangle me! *hides under a table* Im glad that you like my story! And please don't bow! I love your stories, they're so much better than mine! Your dark tones are captivating :)

**_Species Unknown_**

Maybe, maybe not! I guess I'll have to write more and you'll have to read to find out! And any spelling errors are automatically blamed on my spell check. *whispers* it's not very good at its job

**Disclaimer : I still don't own Sonic the Hedgehog**

* * *

"Hey Amy, you got any sevens?"

"Ha ha, nope! Go fish Autumn!"

The young female rolled her grey eyes and grumbled as she reached into the 'pond' and grabbed the last card. Eight. Not exactly what she wanted. Her hand had three sevens, a six, and now an eight.

She currently had only two points, books of aces and queens. Tails had the threes, nines, and kings, and Amy was in the lead with books of twos, fours, fives, tens, and jacks.

"Amy, do you have any eights?" asked Tails hopefully.

The pink hedgehog's ears drooped and she handed her last two cards to the grinning fox. "I'm out now," she exclaimed. "Autumn, it's your turn. You had better not loose again."

Both foxes narrowed their eyes at each other, both sets glowing with nothing but determination.

"Tails," she asked with false sweetness, "may I have your eights?"

As she set her new book by her others, she sighed. There was a no chance that she could win now, but it was likely that she and Tails would end up tied.

"Autumn, do you have the other six?"

That left the only unclaimed book to be sevens, and it was Autumn's turn. Sighing she held out her hand to her friend and asked for the last seven. Placing the four cards by her other piles, she flopped onto her back and stared at the white ceiling, ignoring the small pain coming from where she hit her head on the ground.

"I am terrible at this game," she moaned. "I quit."

Amy giggled, but said nothing as she cleaned up the cards. Tails laughed as well, and was about to say something when Autumn's head turned toward him and finger pointed in his direction.

"Don't say that I'm not Tails, I obviously am. We have played that game sixteen times since Chris taught us last night. I've counted, and you know how many I've won? One. One, and it was only because you and Amy let me. So just save your breath and don't talk."

Tails closed his eyes and shook his head at her retaliation, but didn't respond. Turning back to the ceiling, she yelped in surprise at what was there. Sonic was bent over her, his nose only about six inches above her own.

His emerald eyes shined in amusement, and his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. Sonic leaned closer to her and winked, and whispered in her ear, "Gotcha," before he moved away and sat against a wall with his legs crossed and hands behind his head.

Sitting up, Autumn glared at him and was about to retort with a sassy remark when a high pitched giggle came flotaing to their ears via a warm breeze that flowed from the window.

Amy turned a curious look toward the window. Walking over, she placed her hands on the sill and peered out, searching for the source of the noise.

"That sounds like Cream and Cheese," she stated. "But they're supposed to be inside."

Tails had joined her at the window. "I wonder what they're doing out there, Amy."

"I'll bet that Cream's out there gathering some flowers," she explained.

He was silent for a few moments before understanding danced across his face.

"I guess that she misses her mom," he said softly.

Autumn's brow furrowed in confusion. _'How did they get from flowers to Cream missing her mom?'_ she wondered.

The explanation came from Amy. "of course she does. She would always surprise her mom by making crowns for her out of flowers. I wish... I just wish that there was some way for us to cheer her up."

The room lapsed into silence, and Autumn stole a quick glance at the unusually quiet Sonic. He was staring intently at something on the wall. Turning in that direction, she saw a poster. Printed on it was a beautiful oasis in the middle of two mountains, with a thing ring of flowers surrounding a small pond.

Her study of the poster was cut short when a hand grabbed it and ripped it from its place on the wall.

Blinking twice, she turned her gaze to where Sonic had been sitting mere moments before. The spot was empty.

"Where'd he go?" questioned Amy.

Shrugging, Autumn rose to her feet. Grabbing her Astronomy book, she made her way to the window. Tails moved to the side, allowing her access to the roof via the window.

Opening her textbook to the page that she was halfway done with, she stole a glance at the sky. Searching the clouds for some sign, she found a tiny cloud in the shape of a flower. Smiling softly, she thought of Cream.

Looking down from her perch, she could see Chris making his way to school. He seemed more enthusiastic than he usually did, and she was curious as to why. Cream and Cheese were walking back to the mansion, Cream holding a bouquet of the flowers that she had picked. Skipping as she went, she waved for Autumn to join her.

"I'll never get the chance to read my book in peace, will I?" she sighed as she placed her book down and leaped off of the roof.

Cream squealed in delight as Autumn made her way over. The young rabbit shoved her flowers into Autumn's unsuspecting hands and began talking very excitedly.

"Here, you take these and go up to Chris's room, and I'll go pick some more and meet you there!"

With that, she and Cheese were gone again.

Sighing and shaking her head, the fox made her way up the rose trellis that hung next to Chris's balcony, using extreme caution as to not crush the fragile flowers. Once up, she stole inside his room, sliding the heavy glass door shut behind her.

Proud of herself for not being caught, she sat upon Chris's bed, fiddling around with the flowers, waiting until Cream returned.

She didn't have to wait long before the girl came bounding through the door, Cheese flying in happy circles around her head.

"Oh, Autumn, are you ready? We're going to make flower crowns!"

Autumn chuckled nervously. "Ah, Cream? I've never actually made a flower crown before," she admitted, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

Cream only giggled and sat on the bed next to her. "That's alright, I can teach you!"

* * *

And so Autumn and Cream spent the next few hours together, the former learning how to make crowns out of flowers. Littering the ground were her failed attempts, a small pile forming by her side of the bed. She was just getting into the swing of things when Cream's sad sigh interrupted her work.

Worriedly she turned her attention to the distressed rabbit. She was looking at the crown that she was working on, and frowning slightly.

"This crown doesn't have enough flowers," she stated. "I'd better go pick some more."

She quickly slid off of the bed and ran out the door.

"No, Cream, wait!" called Autumn as she followed her friend out. "We're supposed to stay out of sight!"

Cream was already down the main staircase by the time Autumn had caught up to her, an she was peeking into the living room where Chris's mom was hanging purple streamers. Cream had told her earlier that the Thorndykes were going to be having a party that night, so it made sense that she would be decorating.

"Autumn, maybe we could help decorate for the party," suggested Cream.

Autumn was about to voice her opinion when Cream ran off.

Sighing, she followed the rabbit back up to Chris's room. Walking in, she saw Cream pulling out a paper chain from Chris's nightstand drawer.

Cream turned and flashed Autumn a grin before she grabbed her hand and pulled her back down the main staircase, Cheese flitting around their heads.

With nobody nearby, the three snuck into the living room and looked for a place to hang their decoration. After a minute of debate, they agreed upon the yellow lamp that hung from the ceiling.

"Hurry up Cream, Chris will be home soon."

As soon as she said it, Chris walked through the door and started talking to his mother and Mr. Tanaka.

"Cream," warned Autumn in a whisper.

"Almost there," she whispered back. She and Cheese were still struggling to hang up the small chain.

"Oh no!" Chris exclaimed. "It's Autumn, Cream, and Cheese!"

Grey eyes wide, Autumn turned to see The boy and his grandfather waving their arms frantically in the air, attempting to block Mrs. Thorndyke's view into the living room.

Autumn grabbed Cream and Cheese and his behind the couch, trying to hide them better.

After a few tense moments, the woman left. Everybody breathed a huge sigh of relief, and Chris made his way into the room.

"Cream, I asked you to stay upstairs," he said, barely maintaining a calm voice.

"But that room was boring. And besides, we only wanted to help you get ready for your party," she explained, her voice quavering slightly.

"Master Chris understands. Thank you for your help Cream."

Four shocked pairs of eyes looked over the top of the couch to see Mr. Tanaka standing there.

"Mr. Tanaka, you know about these guys?" asked Chris, gesturing to Autumn and Cream.

He nodded. "Of course."

"Uh, Chris?" Autumn tugged at the boy's sleeve. He only ignored her.

"You knew all along, disnt you? Say, do you think that you could help me keep them a secret from everybody else?"

"Chris!" she tugged harder. When it was obvious that he wasn't listening, she leaned back against the couch, folded her arms across her chest, and scowled out the window.

"I will."

"Thanks Mr. Tanaka," he breathed. He looked down at Cream and Cheese, only to did the spot where they had been before empty.

"What?" he cried. "They're gone!" He glanced at Autumn. "Autumn, why didn't you tell me that they left?"

Still scowling, she turned her back to him and began to walk out the door. "I tried to," she called out over her shoulder. "But you weren't listening. I'll check with Amy and Tails, you check around the house."

The two set off in search of Cream and Cheese, but all Autumn wanted to do was go back to the roof and read.

Running lightly through the yard, she entered the garage and made her way up the stairs. Walking through the door, she waved at Tails and Amy.

"Sonic's not back yet? It's been a few hours," she mused as she strode past them. "That's a pretty long time for someone who can run faster than the speed of sound."

"That's true," agreed Tails from his spot "I wonder what's keeping him."

"Hey Autumn, where are Cream and Cheese?" asked Amy.

Shrugging, the fox told the two what had transpired.

"Gee," whistled Tails. "Well Amy and I can help you guys look if you'd like."

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" agreed Amy. "Let's go!"

The hedgehog and the fox ran out the door, excited to finally get out of the tiny room. Autumn, on the other hand, made her way to the window and ou into the roof.

Carefully climbing back to where she had left her book, she curled up and began to read. She was soon lost, completely engrossed in the pages that she only heard the squealing tires that Mrs. Thorndyke's car made as it left through the iron gate about half an hour later.

Glancing up, she noticed a small green car in the driveway and some sort of sports car pulling in.

Though she wasnt sure if it was still going on, Autumn decided that it was time to rejoin the search for Cream an Cheese. She slid down the roof and climbed back through the window, placed her book on the window seat, she left the small bedroom.

Walking slowly back to the mansion, she noticed something blue in one of the trees.

"Sonic?"

He grinned as he turned to her. "Hey, Autumn, I found tht place and got Cream some more flowers!" he said excitedly as he held up a rather large bouquet of gorgeous wildflowers.

"That was really sweet of you," replied the fox as she smiled up at him. He jumped down and handed them to her. Sticking her nose into them, she took a deep breath. That special scent that only freshl picked flowers can have filled her entire being. With a heavy heart, she realized that they reminded them of her home. Of her family.

Pulling her face back from the flowers, she spoke to Sonic. "I'm sure that she's going to love them."

"Yeah!" he cheered. Something in the window then distracted him, and he squinted through the glass for a few moments.

"Hey, that's that guy who we raced the first night we came here," he realized. Autumn followed his gaze to see that he was right. Inside was a tall, skinny man with red hair talking to Chris. He suddenly looked surprised, though it quickly turned to anger as he pointed out the window.

Autumn dove to the ground, hiding herself from his view. Silently, she crawled out of the view of the window and stood up slowly.

Sighing in relief and shaking her head at the close call, she began to walk around the house. A strong wind came along, and the flowers were soon gone from her grasp. A fading blue streak was the only reason for her calm state, and Autumn guessed that Sonic wanted to give Cream the flowers by himself.

She continued her walk, and almost collided with and open door. Cream and Cheese were running out, and the former was in tears. Autumn was about to chase after her when Tails and Amy came through as well, begging for her to slow down.

Utterly confused, Autumn stood in that same spot for a few minutes. She finally moved, and glanced through the still open door to see Ella, Mr. Tanaka, Chris, and Chuck. Listening in on their conversation, she could hear Chris explaining how she and her friends had arrived.

She hadn't seen much of Ella, but Autumn guessed that if she was going to be in on the secret that she didnt have to be nervous around her. Slowly she made her way into the room to help explain their situation.

* * *

"You ready Cream?"

A nod was given, and two figures made their way into Chris's room where Sonic and Chris both were. Each was holding a crown made entirely from flowers, and they both had crowns on themselves.

Cream went right up to Chris, and held up the crown.

"I made this special, just for you Chris! Would you like to put it on?"

The boy nodded, and the rabbit stood on her toes to situate the ring of flowers carefully upon his head.

"Wow, thank you!" he exclaimed. "It's beautiful."

A giggle escaped her lips as her excitement bubbled over. "You can wear it to school and tell all of your friends that I made it for you. Now I'm going to go give Ella her flowers!"

As Cream left the room, the other figure walked over to Sonic and Chris.

"You know, Cream's a lot better at making these than I am," Autumn explained, holding up the crown in her hands. "But she wanted me to make one for you, Sonic. I hope you like it, it took me a really long time to make."

She laughed when she said it, but was sincere when she said that he wanted him to like it.

He chuckled and bowed his head in her direction. She slid the crown into place, and stepped back to admire her handiwork.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself," she muttered. She then giggled. "Sonic, you look very handsome in that flower crown."

He flashed a grin at her. "Yeah? You don't look too bad yourself," he replied, winking and giving her a thumbs up. A small blush creeped onto Autumn's cheeks, and Chris laughed at her.

Soon the whole room was laughing, wether it was because of the flower crowns or the stress of hiding was finally gone was unclear, but the reason wasn't important. It was a wonderful end to a wonderful day, and that's what mattered most.

* * *

Yay, another chapter complete! Honestly, I didn't like this episode, but I had fun writing it. Gosh, my endings are kinda cliché. . . Ah well, whatever. So i reread my previous chapters, and I think that my writing style is changing. So if any of y'all have any suggestions as to how you'd like me to write, feel free to make them! I hold no grudges, and am really thankful for suggestions! And yeah, I have more excuses as to why I'm going to take forever to write and upload the next chapter, but I don't feel like telling. You'll get another chapter whenever I finish, so be patient and it will come! Thanks guys!


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